With a Monarch's Voice Cry Havoc! and Let Slip the Dogs of War
by grrlgeek72
Summary: Picking up where "Worthy Queen of Greatness" ended, we follow the Snow Queen of Arendelle as she heals up and prepares to bring havoc down on the Duke of Weselton's badly bewigged head. This is a darker Elsa, a more traumatized Elsa, who may have lost her way. Her political enemies continue to scheme in the shadows as Arendelle prepares for war.
1. The Color of Invisible Blood

**Chapter 1 – The Color of Invisible Blood**

**Author's Notes:**

This story immediately follows Worthy Queen of Greatness, and starts in November, 1840. It takes place in the alternate timeline of my headcanon universe. Up until the events of Worthy Queen, the two universes are the same, so there is a political plot simmering unknown to Elsa that began before she became Queen. (See 'The Spare' for details...[shameless plug])

I will include some flashbacks in this story to fill in backstory for those who have not read 'The Spare'. Trust me when I say the political plot will NOT go in the same way as it did in that story. This is, after all, a different universe.

In both universes, Elsa's Coronation Day was July 14, 1840, and the events of the movie ended with the Great Thaw on July 17, 1840.

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**Marcus Antonius:**  
>And Caesar's spirit, raging for revenge,<br>With Ate by his side come hot from hell,  
>Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice<br>Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war,  
>That this foul deed shall smell above the earth<br>With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Julius Caesar Act 3, scene 1, 270–275

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_Violence does not always take visible form, and not all wounds gush blood._

– _**Haruki Murakami, 1Q84**_

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***** November, 1840 – Kingdom of Arendelle *****

Three weeks had passed since the battle to free Arendelle from the attackers, sent by the Duke of Weselton, who had taken Anna hostage. It had been a fierce, if brief, battle. The cost in casualties had been light, except for the families of the dead. For them, the cost had been infinitely high.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle stared at the fire in the library hearth, remembering.

_She was on her knees in front of her own throne, hands bound behind her back, glaring at the enemy commander sprawled arrogantly on her throne. His men had dragged her in here from the castle courtyard, tripping her and twisting their fists into her hair to pull her back on her feet. They had intended to degrade and intimidate her. She was not intimidated. She was, however, afraid, but her fear was more for her sister Anna than for her own safety. Elsa was afraid that her plan to defeat these enemies of Arendelle would fail, leaving the kingdom helpless and the two sisters dead. _

The Duke had been clever; he knew he needed some way to neutralize the magic power of the Snow Queen of Arendelle. His leverage had been Princess Anna, the younger sister of the Queen. The two women had been separated for thirteen years but that had not been long enough for them to lose the love they had for each other. The Duke's men kidnapped Anna while the Queen was on a visit to a nearby town; they threatened to kill her if Elsa did not submit to their demands. Of course Elsa submitted.

_She remembered how she had walked up to the enemy officer and said, "I'm ready. Let's go."_

_She remembered the pain as they twisted her arms behind her and tied her wrists. Then more pain as the officer stepped close to Elsa and backhanded a hard slap across her face. The blow cut her lip and made her stumble to one knee. A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and her fear caused a small patch of ice to form on the pavement where she knelt. She had glared up at the officer. "What was that for?"_

_"A lesson. The first of many. You are helpless, and your kingdom belongs to us. Don't forget it."_

_She had been more frightened than she had ever been in her life; Colonel Nordholm had been appalled at her plan; it put her at the mercy of violent men; men who had no qualms about taking what they wanted from helpless women; __**anything**__ they wanted. She had told him she would not allow herself to be so violated, but if Anna were still at risk … she might have to._

Ice began to form on the floor beneath her as she sat in front of the fireplace caught in the spell of her daydream. They had confined her in her own dungeons, she had suffered night terrors beyond terrifying, then she had fought beside her guardsmen as they battled to escape and signal for help. At the last, she had confronted the commander of the Weselton forces and barely escaped with her life as her magic almost failed her.

_The Commander snarled and lunged forward to drive the point of his sword into Elsa's upper arm, pinning her to the door as the sword sank at least three inches into the wood. She screamed and dropped the sword. Blood ran freely from her wound, painting the door with a crimson streak. It was all she could do to remain upright, bracing herself against the door and trying to blink the tears out of her eyes so she could see her murderer. _

But she had found enough strength left to free herself, and Anna had brought a relief force to the castle that turned the tide of the battle.

Elsa remembered; and the ice grew spiky and angry as she did. She trembled and hugged herself as she tried to drive away the images of the fight, the smell of the blood, the pain of the sword driving into her body.

"_Anna ..." _She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and remembered her sister holding her as she lay on the pavement, spent from the loss of blood and the effort of the battle. She hugged herself, rocking back and forth as she was transported back to the courtyard and the life-or-death struggle there.

_She remembered feeling relief when Anna caught her as she slumped bonelessly to the cobblestones. She remembered her sister's gentle touch as Anna knelt and cradled Elsa in her arms, then tenderly brushed the sweat- and blood-soaked hair back from her face. Elsa's eyes were open but she couldn't seem to focus them on anything. She pawed clumsily for Anna's hand with her own, finally wrapping her fingers around it and squeezing weakly. _

"_Elsa!" _She heard her sister calling to her in her vision.

"ELSA!" Anna was shaking her shoulder, here in the room as well. "Elsa, it's me, it's okay, you don't have to be afraid, you're safe!" Anna had slipped on the icy floor, but managed to slide to her knees and hug her sister without falling flat on her face or impaling herself on an ice spike.

"Anna?" Elsa regained her awareness of where she was. "I'm … sorry. I'll fix it." A wave of her hand and the ice disappeared as though it had never been.

"Honey, are you okay?" Anna looked into her sister's eyes, looking for reassurance that she was back in the present.

"Y .. yes. I was just … re ... remembering," Elsa stuttered as she leaned into Anna's warmth.

"You promised you'd try not to do that when you're alone. So we could talk about it," Anna said as she hugged Elsa.

"It was a foolish promise, Anna. The memories just … come. A sound, a twinge in my arm, and suddenly I'm back then, scared out of my wits." Elsa shuddered and buried her face in her sister's shoulder.

Anna soothed her for a few minutes; this had happened almost every day since Elsa had healed enough to be allowed out of bed. She still wasn't strong enough to take up her duties as Queen, and Anna was still acting as her regent. This left Elsa with too much time to brood without Anna available to help her break out of the nightmarish flashbacks.

"Honey, when will you be able to take back the kingdom? I think me and the Council are both hoping you'll be back soon," Anna decided to try to distract her sister from the memories.

Elsa sniffled and wiped her cheeks as she sat up and looked at Anna. "I'm not sure. Maybe a week? The doctor said everything is healing nicely, and I'm certainly feeling stronger."

Anna stood, then helped Elsa get to her feet. "Good. But I think starting tomorrow you and I should spend some time in your study every day letting me catch you up on everything. The council has been meeting once a week because of all the cleanup and everything. Next week is the day for the regular monthly meeting, so we decided that would be a good time to go back to the normal schedule. We set up the agenda today, I think you should plan on taking over then, if you can."

The two sisters were walking down the hall toward their bedrooms, arm in arm.

"I would like that," Elsa said. "I'm so proud of how you've done as Regent, Anna. I don't know what the kingdom would have done without you."

"Well, what good's a spare if she's not ready when you need her? Although, I will confess that more often than I like admitting, I just put on what I call my 'Elsa face' and nod like I know what they're talking about." Anna showed Elsa the face she was talking about and was glad to get a giggle in response.

"Yes, well, don't tell anyone, but I do that too," Elsa confided sheepishly. "Some of the councilors are just … sooooo in love with the sound of their own voices that it almost drives me into a sound slumber."

The two sisters giggled together. Anna said, "I am so glad to hear you say that! I would be embarrassed to think I'm the only one who has to suppress the urge to get caught up on my sleep in those meetings."

They were in front of Elsa's bedroom door. Anna looked at her sister with concern and asked, "Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?" Elsa's nightmares had diminished in frequency, but every third night or so she would wake up screaming.

Elsa hugged Anna and said, "I feel okay now. I think I'll be fine tonight." She made a wry face, "And it's not as though you won't know if I have a bad dream." Anna's room was close enough that the sound of Elsa screaming easily woke the younger woman.

"Okay. But let me put you to bed, at least?" Anna led her sister into the bedroom and sat her down in front of the vanity. "Hand me your hair brush, honey."

Humming softly, Anna loosened Elsa's braid and began to brush out the tangles and snarls of the day. With each stroke of the brush through her thick hair Elsa felt some of the tension in her body ease as well. The pure sensuous joy of Anna's touch lulled her halfway toward sleep. Eyes closed, her hands relaxed in her lap, Elsa could pretend they were little girls again and this was part of their nightly ritual.

She was sorry when the task was finished and Anna helped her remove her dressing gown and tucked her into bed; it felt so good. Elsa let herself relax and let Anna mother her; there were so many long years of isolation to be made up for. Each of these moments were precious to Elsa; she hoarded them against need, in case … in case …

"No bad dreams, tonight, understand? Think happy thoughts, like, playing with Olaf and me in the courtyard," Anna kissed her sister tenderly on the cheek and left for her own room. Elsa slipped the rest of the way into slumber before the door had clicked shut.

There were no bad dreams.

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**** Flashback - August, 1840 - Weselton - Palace of the Duke of Weselton ****

The Duke of Weselton's butler announced his visitor. "Mr. Anders Reinertsen, Your Grace."

"Hello, again, Your Grace. It is good to see you again," Reinertsen nodded to his host.

The Ducal Palace was opulent to the point of ostentatious extravagance. It was large, he had thought, as the butler led Reinertsen from the enormous entrance foyer, through long hallways back to the patio overlooking the lush garden. The furnishings and _objets d'art _scattered on pedestals and hanging on the walls were impressive and intimidating to the Arendelle merchant. In his own kingdom, Reinertsen was considering very wealthy; the Ducal Palace made him feel like a pauper.

"Harrumph, yes, well, I am still greatly annoyed at that … monster … ruling Arendelle. Has your country chafed under her rule, yet? Will they be deposing her any time soon?" The Duke waved his visitor to a chair on the patio, in the shade where the heat of an August day in Weselton could be enjoyed rather than endured.

"Ah, I'm afraid not, Your Grace. She seems intent on toadying to the mob, apologizing profusely and making a show of traveling about the kingdom in some sort of attempt at expiation of the damage she's done. So far, most people seem to be accepting her efforts. There's always a few disgruntled trouble makers in any kingdom, but for now there doesn't seem to be enough of them to make her worry about a rebellion," Reinertsen settled himself comfortably and in response to a polite query from a footman asked for a cool drink.

"Well, we can exploit that. I intend to make her pay for the insult she has done to me! To pay for the damage she has done to our business. My profits are down substantially, and I can't believe yours are in any better shape," the Duke glared at Reinertsen.

The two men had been doing business for years before Elsa of Arendelle had become Queen. At one time, Reinertsen had served on the Royal Advisory Council. Unfortunately for him, Elsa had exposed him in a scheme to profit from a shady trade deal with Weselton and removed him from the Council. He had been contemptuous of her rule before that, but since that humiliation he had seethed and looked for any opportunity to take his revenge on her. He was interested in what the Duke had planned, and his visit here had been set up when the Duke had been kicked out of Arendelle in the days after the Great Thaw.

"What are you thinking we should do about it, Your Grace?" Reinertsen accepted his drink from the butler, then sipped at it appreciatively while he waited for the Duke to respond. The ice cubes in the glass clinked softly, and Reinertsen wondered idly where the Duke was purchasing ice now that Arendelle refused to do business with him.

The little man was a bundle of nervous energy, pacing around the shaded patio while his guest watched.

"I intend to send an expedition to take that smug smile off her face," he declared.

"Ah, Your Grace, isn't that somewhat … futile? I mean, with her magic, she could simply freeze whatever ships you send and let her Navy and Marines detain your forces," protested Reinertsen. "Even without magic, the Arendelle Navy is skilled and vigilant. Your Navy has no chance against them. Forgive me if I seem … skeptical, but your Duchy is not known for the size and power of your fleet."

The Duke stopped and scowled at Reinertsen, who worried that he had insulted his host, then said, "Ah, but I have a plan to neutralize that witch's magic **and** her Navy!"

Startled, Reinertsen said, "How? That seems … incredible. Have you sought out scholars who study the arcane arts, have they discovered the roots of her powers and how they can be negated?"

"Nothing so complicated! It is a simple matter of striking at her heart, at that which she holds most dear, Anders! If Princess Anna is our captive, she is proof against any move that the Queen or her armed forces might make. So I plan to have my men take the Princess hostage before we reveal ourselves as invaders."

Reinertsen looked thoughtful as he considered what the Duke had said. "I admit, it was somewhat of a surprise when the two women reconciled after that disastrous coronation fiasco. You think that a threat to kill the Princess will tie the Queen's hands? She might shrug it off, let your men murder the Princess and then kill your entire invading force, after which she will come looking for you."

"My agents tell me that this will work. And my Navy will not be involved, so that is where you come in."

"Me?" squeaked Reinertsen. He was no military expert, why would the Duke look to him for this?

"Yes, I need your contacts in the shipping trade to hire ships and their crews. They will sail peacefully into Arendelle's harbor looking like innocent merchant ships. I will provide the soldiers that will make up the invading force that will be hidden below decks. Once the Princess is safely aboard one of the ships as a prisoner, their true purpose will be revealed in a demand to the Queen to submit or watch her sister die."

"You're sure this will work? It still seems risky." Reinertsen was rather more wary of Elsa's power than the Duke apparently was.

The Duke waved off his objection, "Yes, this will work. She will submit, we will plunder the kingdom of Arendelle until there isn't a loose skilling left, and then we will split the profits evenly when those spoils are returned here to Weselton. This will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams of avarice, Anders."

"Or it will get me hung as a traitor," muttered Reinertsen.

"'Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.' " quoted the Duke. "If we prosper, she won't be able to call it treason, you fool. She'll be dead! I intend to have her brought here for trial as a witch and then execute her. Leaving the kingdom in the hands of a grieving and terrorized Princess. Who I may marry off to a likely consort that can keep her too busy raising hoards of squalling brats to bother us with some plan of revenge."

The Duke poured himself a drink, then refilled the glass on the table next to his guest. "A toast, Anders. Let us drink to our partnership in exploiting the riches of Arendelle!"


	2. Two Steps Back

**Chapter 2 – Two Steps Back**

_If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared._

_**- Niccolo Machiavelli **_

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Elsa was preparing herself to take back the governing of Arendelle from Anna. Today she would attend her first Royal Council meeting since the attack. Anna had been doing a fine job as Regent, although Elsa wasn't sure who would be happier with Elsa's return: Anna, or the Royal Council. She suspected it would be close to a tie, albeit for different reasons. Anna, because she wanted Elsa to be well again; the Council, because they had discovered that Elsa's style was rather more … tactful than her sister's.

She sat at her dressing table, staring at the woman in the mirror. Her hair was flawless, her dress perfect. She was ready. Elsa stood, then picked up the last item to complete her ensemble for today. Pulling on the soft kidskin gloves, she left her room to join her Royal Advisory Council to decide how best to let the Duke know what a mistake he had made.

Anna met her sister in the hall on the way to the Royal Council Chamber. There had been an early morning meeting with Admiral Naismith that Anna had chosen to skip. The Queen hadn't told her the topic that would be discussed, and it was just as well Anna had chosen to sleep in. Elsa was sure the meeting would have upset Anna.

"Elsa, how are you going to handle..." Anna stopped abruptly as she saw something she had hoped she would never see again. "What are those?"

"What are what, Anna?" Elsa responded nonchalantly.

"Those!" Anna pointed at Elsa's hands. She was wearing gloves. Soft, flesh-colored kidskin gloves, inconspicuous if you weren't looking too closely. But gloves nonetheless. "Why are you wearing gloves again?" Anna was stunned.

Elsa shrugged, "My hands are cold."

"Wow, Elsa ... you really should have thought this through a little more; that's the worst rationalization I've ever heard!" Anna exclaimed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Anna. It's a common side effect of ... blood loss. The physician told me that. I'm still not ... completely well."

"If you think I'm buying that excuse you're right ... you're not completely well, your judgment is damaged."

"Please, Anna, drop it. We have more important things to deal with today. This council meeting will address one of the most momentous situations this kingdom has faced in over a hundred years," Elsa looked sternly at her sister.

Anna dropped it but only because they had arrived at the door of the Council chamber. It would hardly do for the two of them to bicker in front of the Royal Advisory Council. Anna made a note that during tonight's snack after dinner in the library they would be addressing the topic of the gloves whether Elsa wanted to or not. Their time in the library was more private than dinner and Anna suspected that her sister might be more open if it were just the two of them.

Elsa had asked Kai to announce her and Anna. She didn't usually conduct the Council meetings with such formality, but since grave decisions would be made today Elsa felt the need to acknowledge that this was no routine meeting.

Kai was waiting for them at the door to the Council chamber. At Elsa's nod, he opened the doors, stepped inside and announced, "Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle; Her Royal Highness, Princess Anna of Arendelle!" The men in the room rose and bowed as the two of them stepped into the room and seated themselves, Anna taking her place at Elsa's right hand.

A gesture from Elsa to the room and everyone sat down and waited attentively for her to speak. She could feel the tension. Arendelle was already at war; today's meeting would only formalize that situation. But there were other matters of life and death to address as well.

The Royal Advisory Council of Arendelle had seven members. There were three additional men sitting at the Council table today: Colonel of Marines Lars Nordholm, Senior Navy Captain Rolf Wigdahl , and Captain of the Queen's Own Guard Eric Gunnarsson. They each had reports to make to the Council.

"Gentlemen, we will set aside our usual agenda for today. I know that you have been tireless in repairing the damage done to the kingdom by the abhorrent actions of the Weselton forces, and you have my heartfelt thanks for your diligence," Elsa began. She gestured at the woman seated to her right, "And I also offer my gratitude to my sister, Princess Anna, for her actions as Regent in my absence. I could not be prouder of her." She smiled warmly as Anna blushed, only able to nod in acknowledgment of Elsa's words. It was not often anyone saw Anna speechless.

Elsa's expression became stern as she went on, "But now we must make hard decisions about our response to the harm that has been done. By attacking us, the Duke of Weselton has declared war on Arendelle. We repulsed his cowardly attack, and punished those criminals who invaded our kingdom. Since they wore no colors and claimed no allegiance to Weselton, they declared themselves pirates and were tried as such."

One of the Councilors spoke up, "Your Majesty, if they were pirates, how can we hold the Duke accountable for this attack?"

"Although the Duke was too craven to send his own navy in open battle, we know that he was the author of these atrocities, his minions were quite open about who sent them. He cannot **hide** behind the fiction of 'pirates'. Now he must pay. The question before us is, how?" Elsa nodded at Admiral Naismith to continue.

High Admiral of the Navy Mikael Naismith was the highest ranking officer of the Arendelle military, in overall command of Elsa's armed forces. He stood and gestured at Colonel Nordholm and Captain Wigdahl.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, gentlemen. Colonel Nordholm and Captain Wigdahl will report on the readiness of the armed forces of Arendelle to undertake whatever punitive actions the Crown requires of it."

Nordholm went first. "Your Majesty, Arendelle has two regiments of Marines available to sail on any expedition you choose to send to take our revenge on Weselton. I would suggest that we would only need to send one regiment, with the rest remaining here to defend the kingdom against any other adventurism on the part of known or unknown enemies."

Nordholm sat, and Wigdahl stood to continue the report.

"Your Majesty, the Duke is an avaricious man who believes in profit above all else. What that means for us is that his navy is weak and undermanned. That's one of the reasons he turned to mercenaries for his attack on Arendelle. He is content to leech off the efforts of other kingdoms to combat piracy. Frankly, his merchant fleets are only safe because of our efforts and that of Corona. We could destroy what navy he has easily. They would be no deterrent to our sailing into his harbor and burning the port and everything in it to the ground."

He bowed and sat down again. There was silence for a few moments. Then Elsa spoke,

"As I recovered from my injuries, gentlemen, I had more than enough time to consider what might be an appropriate response to the Duke's treachery. The Duke attacked Arendelle because of his fear of my 'sorcery' as he called it. He thinks of me as a monster. It may be appropriate to show him what type of monster he risked bringing to his shores." Elsa's words were calm and measured, but there was a subtle undertone of anger in her voice. She continued, "I believe that if I accompany the expedition and demonstrate how easily I can create a wasteland of snow and ice, it would make a more profound impression on the Duke and his forces than a more … conventional military response might."

Her words created a murmur of chatter around the table and a startled frown from Anna as she looked at her sister, surprised at this grim and ruthless proposition.

Naismith was also surprised at her words, although he tried not to show it. Elsa had spent thirteen years hiding her powers for fear of hurting anyone. He had been privy to the information about her magic, had in fact been recruited by her to build a dungeon and manacles to confine her if she lost control of her power. He had not thought she would ever consider being used as a weapon. He had to admit he found this willingness to be so used … disturbing.

"What do you suggest for the attack on Weselton, Your Majesty?" Naismith was curious as to what she would consider.

"I would sail with the fleet to challenge the Duke. It seems to me that an overwhelming show of force, including a large dose of ice and snow would be most persuasive to suggest that attacking Arendelle is a poor choice of policy. Tactical details, of course, I would leave to you and other military experts. You should consider the best use of my magic to increase the impact of our raid. If we use it aggressively, your ships and the Marines may not have to fire a single shot."

She went on, "Admiral, I think that you and your staff should create detailed plans that we can review in one week's time. I will come to the Admiralty for that review." Naismith nodded, still taken aback by the grim display of vengeful retaliation that his Queen seemed ready to bring down on the Duke.

"Ah, Your Majesty?" Baron Bjorn Thorstad, one of the council members who had served since before her father had been lost at sea, raised a hand to get her attention after a moment of thought.

"Yes, Your Grace?" She seemed distracted, his question brought her focus back to the room.

Thorstad cleared his throat and then said, "It occurs to me that we should hit the Duke where it hurts the most – in his pocketbook." Thorstad's wealth and influence in Arendelle was based on a flourishing trading enterprise. Of course he would think in terms of economic power rather than military power.

"One prong of our strategy will be the use of military force to confront the Duke. In addition, there should be a diplomatic effort to convince other trading partners of Weselton that Arendelle will not look kindly on those who chose to continue that trade. If they wish to do business with us, or remain on good terms with us, then they must shun the Duke for his vicious and duplicitous policies; policies that are indifferent to their human costs."

His suggestion caused everyone at the table to pause and consider what he was suggesting. Elsa nodded, "You may be right, Your Grace. I will so instruct our diplomatic corps. I am sure they will be seeking your advice, and the advice of the other trading houses as to which of Weselton's trading partners would be most amenable to that reasoning."

Thorstad made a little half-bow to her in acknowledgment.

After a moment or two of silence, Elsa looked around the table again and said, "There is another matter to be discussed, and that is the matter of treason."

"Treason, Your Majesty?" asked another council member.

"Yes. The Admiral and select members of his staff and the Gendarmerie have been following up on the provenance of the ships and men that were sent here by the Duke. It seems that some of our own people were involved in this hideous plot." She nodded at Colonel Nordholm.

Nordholm laid a folder on the table. "Our investigation was absolutely conclusive. There is no doubt that Anders Reinertsen conspired with Weselton. Once we untangled the rather convoluted business relationships hidden in his business files, those ships that brought the attack force here had a paper trail leading straight back to him."

She looked at her Council and said, "It has been over a century since Arendelle last dealt with treason by one of our own people. The penalty for such a repulsive crime has always been death. I see no reason to mitigate that penalty against those who have conspired with the Duke to bring such a threat to our shores." Her voice was no longer calm; it had gained a sharper edge.

The Council was startled at her ferocity. On top of her willingness to personally go off to do battle with her magic, this was a disconcerting change in someone who had previously demonstrated a firm but gentle hand in her approach to ruling Arendelle.

"Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but is this not a matter for your courts to adjudicate?" asked Thorstad.

"No, it is not, Baron Thorstad. The Throne retains the power of High and Low justice in this kingdom. The courts have the power that We have delegated to them. We do not choose to delegate that power in this case."

Elsa's expression was colder than her own ice. "There is only one penalty for such perfidious treason, and that penalty is death. The evidence that has been presented to me is clear and irrefutable. I find Anders Reinertsen guilty of High Treason against Arendelle and sentence him to death. I dispatched members of the Guard and Marines to arrest him before this meeting began. He will not escape the Crown's justice."

The Admiral spoke up. "We placed a discreet watch on Reinertsen yesterday to insure that he does not elude us. When we arrest him, we will be interested in what he has to say in his defense. If there are mitigating circumstances, although I confess I cannot imagine such, Her Majesty may display mercy. Perhaps as an alternative to hanging he will be interested in discussing any … compatriots besides the Duke that he may have in this scheme."

The silence in the room was so complete that Elsa thought she could hear Anna's heart pounding as she sat next to her.

The Queen took a deep breath, then said, "I believe that concludes our business for today, gentlemen. Thank you for your diligence and loyalty to Arendelle. We will resume our usual process next month when we meet as scheduled. Agenda items will be distributed one week prior as is our procedure. If you have any items you would like to review, please get them to Kai prior to that." Elsa was dismissing them to end the meeting.

Elsa and Anna rose and swept from the room to the bows of the Council members. When they were sure that the two women were gone and out of earshot, conversations began.

Torbjørn Solheim had joined the council two years before Elsa's coronation. He had replaced the disgraced and traitorous Anders Reinertsen and did extensive business with him. "She can't do that, can she? It's … unconscionable!" he exclaimed.

Naismith finished stuffing his notes into his portfolio and didn't bother even looking at Solheim. "She can do it and she has. Her Majesty is quite cognizant of her duties and responsibilities in this regard, Solheim. I suggest that you shut up."

Solheim sputtered indignantly, "How dare you? She is acting like an oppressive despot, this is most disturbing and unprecedented in this kingdom."

The Admiral stood, tucked his portfolio under his arm and glared at the indignant little man and said, "I dare because this kingdom has taken a great blow. An **unprecedented** attack that cost us lives and treasure; that could have cost us our Queen and her sister and left our people destitute. Whatever we do to Weselton is barely enough to repay the Duke for his perfidy. And anyone of our own people that chose to join that perfidy in a quest for gold to line their own pockets deserves something far more ugly than hanging."

Solheim was taken aback and quailed at the ferocity in the Admiral's demeanor. He had nothing more to say as the Admiral left the room.

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After meeting with the Admiral prior to the Council meeting, Elsa had directed that Guards and Marines be dispatched to the home of Anders Reinertsen to arrest him before any word of his condemnation by the Queen could leak and cause him to flee.

A Major of Marines led the party. "You men, go around back and make sure he doesn't scurry out before we can arrest him."

After a minute or two to allow them to position themselves, the major pounded on the door of the manor and shouted, "Anders Reinertsen, open up in the name of the Queen!"

There was no response.

He gestured to two of the Marines. "Break it down. We don't have time for excessive courtesy."

The door was stout, but not stout enough to resist the boots of two burly Marines. The major and ten Marines entered the house. "Go, search the place. If he's here, we'll be taking him back to the castle and introduce him to the dungeons until the Queen can get the gallows built."

Only a few moments had passed before one of the Marines returned to the foyer where the major was waiting. "Sir, we found him. You need to come see this."

The Marine led the Major to a large bedroom. There was a rather messily dead body lying on the bed, a pistol in his hand and the top of his head splattered over the wall and headboard.

"Reinertsen, it seems, chose not to wait for the Queen's justice," commented the Major.

"There's a note over here on the dresser, sir," pointed out one of the men. The Major walked over to pick up and read the note. It was a confession of Reinertsen's treason and a statement that he chose to leave this world under his own terms rather than face the hangman.

"Well, that's that. Wrap him up in a sheet or something, boys. We'll turn him over to the Gendarmerie for processing; they deal with suicides."

The Major stalked out of the bedroom, ordering most of the men to set up a guard perimeter around the house. He was sure that the Admiral would want a thorough search of the house and Reinertsen's business office. They would seek out any clues to who might have conspired with him in his treason.

"Sergeant, I suspect the Council meeting isn't over yet. I am leaving you in charge here while I return to the castle and report to the Queen, the Admiral and Colonel Nordholm. If any of his servants show up, detain them for questioning."

As he mounted up to ride back to the castle he wondered if the Queen would be glad there would be no need for the public spectacle of a hanging.


	3. Two Words

**Chapter 3 – Two Words **

"_Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell." _  
><strong>― Walter Scott, <strong>_**The Heart of Midlothian **_

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Elsa returned to her study with Anna trailing after her. "Elsa, wait, we need to talk!" the Princess said.

Throwing her gloves down on her credenza, Elsa sat behind her desk and rubbed her temples, trying to soothe a splitting headache. She had not slept well the night before, the early meeting with the Admiral had been tense and the discussions during the Council meeting had almost pushed her into a panic attack. The necessity to control her powers and maintain a stoic demeanor had caused clenched teeth and fists, always guaranteed to give her a headache. "About what, Anna?"

Her sister stood glaring at her, hands on her hips, trying to control her irritation. "Let's start with you sailing off like some Angel of Death to Weaseltown. Is that really necessary? Haven't you been in enough danger lately? You said it yourself, you're not completely healed. Not to mention the fact that you have never before in your life demonstrated any of the sort of ruthless thirst for retribution I'm seeing now!"

Elsa replied with an attempt to placate her sister, "It won't be dangerous. You heard the Colonel. Weselton has no force strong enough to resist us. And the invasion won't be for at least several weeks, perhaps months, and I will be completely healthy by then." Elsa continued to rub her temples, her eyes closed in a grimace of pain.

Anna sat on a side chair, bothered with what she was seeing in Elsa. "But, but ..." she really didn't know what else to say. She just knew that Elsa wasn't quite right, and it worried her.

"Anna, you have been more than adequate as Regent in my absence, but I am still the Queen, and I will not be challenged on this matter!" Elsa's harsh tone made it clear she wanted no more reproach from Anna and the rebuke stung a little.

Before they could continue the conversation, there was a knock at the door. It was Kai. "Your Majesty, the Admiral is here, and he has something urgent he wishes to discuss with you."

Elsa dropped her hands from her head and sat up straight. What could this possibly be about that they hadn't already discussed this morning? "Please come in, Admiral."

Anna wondered if she should leave but decided to stay. She was still worried about Elsa and as Regent she had the right to be here for whatever the Admiral had to report.

The Admiral entered the study, trailed by Nordholm and a Marine Major Elsa didn't know. "Your Majesty, the Major here has just returned from his attempt to arrest Anders Reinertsen."

Elsa sat bolt upright and laid her hands on her desk, where a small patch of ice immediately formed under them. "Attempt, Admiral? Did he escape your forces then?"

"He chose to stand before a higher justice than yours, Your Majesty. We found him dead by his own hand and a note saying he preferred not to face the hangman," the Major explained.

The news stunned both women. It had never occurred to Elsa that Reinertsen would do something like kill himself. For all her bravado in the Council meeting, she hadn't really looked forward to executing him. She had harbored the thought that he had some defense that would allow her to mitigate the penalty to something harsh, but less than a death sentence.

The silence dragged out until Naismith cleared his throat and asked, "What should we do now, Your Majesty?"

Elsa looked at him quizzically, "What is there to do, Admiral?"

"Ah, well, there are his estates and other assets. As a traitor, they would normally escheat to the Crown."

She hadn't even thought of that. It had been so long since an act of treason had been committed in the kingdom that she hadn't finished doing her research of the legal ramifications of everything that could be done to punish the traitors. She had planned on a meticulous review of the legal precedents based on the assumption that Reinertsen would be safely locked away while she did so.

"What about his family?" Anna spoke up. "Have they been notified?" She suppressed the urge to demand of her sister,_ "Are you planning to arrest them, too, just in case?" _ In the mood she was in, Elsa wouldn't appreciate any comment that could be taken as censure, but Anna worried that Elsa had lost sight of justice in a focus on vengeance.

The comment pulled Elsa out of her reverie, family was another thing she hadn't thought about.

"Does he have many family?" Elsa had been so fixated on Reinertsen that it had never occurred to her that there might be people close to him involved in the treason. Or, not involved. She wasn't sure what Anna was trying to imply and she felt confused.

"He has no siblings, his parents are dead. Aunts and uncles are all that are left," replied the Admiral.

Elsa thought for a few minutes. "His lands and assets are forfeit to the crown, but there will be no corruption of the blood, unless you have evidence his family was involved, Admiral?" She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"No, Your Majesty. If he had accomplices, they were not members of his family."

"Well, then, that's that," Elsa finished. "Thank you, Admiral, Colonel, Major." She was clearly dismissing them. Rising, they bowed and took their leave.

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Dinner that night was quiet. Elsa usually had little to say unless Anna drew her into conversation and tonight Anna was subdued by the gravity of the day's events. The short weeks she had been acting as Regent had opened her eyes to realities that she had really never considered before; it gave her a new appreciation for what Elsa dealt with every day while making it seem so effortless. It scared her a little. As Regent, she could turn the kingdom and the burden back over to Elsa. If something … more permanent … happened to her sister, the crown landed on Anna's head and would stay there. This prospect was suddenly very real, and very scary.

Anna moved the food on her plate around aimlessly while thinking that she hoped Elsa lived to be 100.

"Anna!" Elsa's voice pierced through Anna's wandering thoughts and startled her back to the dinner table.

"Huh?" She looked up to see that Elsa was looking at her with some unease. "Did you say something, Elsa?"

"I asked if you would like some dessert. It's unusual for you not to react to that. Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, just thinking. You know how that is, you do it all the time," Anna replied sheepishly.

This elicited a small smile from Elsa. "What were you thinking that distracted you from dessert?"

Anna's face fell into a grimace. "The whole day was just … overwhelming. How do you DO this?"

Elsa was equally serious as she responded, "It's … what I was trained for, honey. Although, honestly, the past month has been like a nightmare out of the long-dead history of the kingdom." She gestured to the footman to serve dessert and coffee and the conversation lagged again.

As they left the dining room, Elsa took Anna's hand and said, "Do you want to talk about today some more? I … I know it was distressing, and I hate having to put the burden on you."

Anna leaned into her sister and said, "Yeah, please. But what I really need you to do is to tell me how you manage all this without running off across the fjord screaming ..." and realized that she could have phrased that a little more tactfully as Elsa stopped walking abruptly and pulled her hand away.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" Anna kicked herself for letting her mouth run without thinking about what she was saying. She approached Elsa slowly and held out her hand, when her sister was like this sudden moves were a bad idea.

Elsa stood shivering and hugging herself for a moment more, then looked at Anna, tried to smile and failed. "I didn't scream," she sighed. She let Anna take her hand again and they resumed walking toward the library.

They sat on the couch facing the fire, still hand in hand. Anna sat close enough to Elsa that she could feel her trembling slightly. Putting her head down on her sister's shoulder Anna whispered, "I really didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry."

Elsa's shoulders slumped as she stared at the fire. She replied, "I know you didn't, Anna. You don't need to apologize."

After a few minutes, Elsa took a deep breath and sat up straighter. Looking at Anna, she said, "You wanted to talk about today?"

Anna sat up also, then said, "I was almost overwhelmed today. War with Weselton, treason … it's a lot to absorb all at once."

"I meant what I said at the meeting, Anna. You've done a fine job as Regent," Elsa assured her sister.

"Yeah, but … it's hard. How do you do it?"

"Well, I'm not the Regent, I'm the Queen," Elsa chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound and her joke fell flat.

Sobered by the sour expression on Anna's face, she said more seriously, "Training. Papa trained me for this. He made mistakes in some things, but not in this, at least. Now you know why I can be so … insistent about tutoring you."

Anna rolled her eyes. Since the Great Thaw, Elsa had spent at least two days a week tutoring Anna in affairs of state and the finer points of governance. "I promise I'll pay more attention from now on."

This time Elsa's chuckle was sincere, "You obviously have been paying enough attention, but I won't turn down the offer of more diligence." She stroked Anna's hand, she had longed to reach out every time Anna knocked on her door during the years of their separation. Now that there were no doors between them, she never missed an opportunity to feel the silky smooth warmth of Anna's touch.

But that gesture reminded Anna of the gloves. "Elsa, what was with the gloves today? I thought I'd never see you in them again."

Her sister shrugged, trying to make it seem unimportant. "I told you, Anna, it means nothing. I can control my magic, see?" She conjured up a small flurry in the hand Anna wasn't holding. She said nothing more.

Anna gave up trying to get Elsa to discuss the gloves; frankly they were the least troubling thing she was seeing in her sister today. She was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to broach the topic of Elsa's new-found aggressiveness with Elsa when her sister spoke up first.

"Anna, have you and Kristoff discussed courtship?" Elsa asked.

"Whoa, Elsa, that's kind of a personal question, don't you think?" Anna was blindsided by the subject. She had been taking it slow with Kristoff, having learned her lesson with Hans. They seemed to be starting with a close friendship, and she really hadn't thought that far ahead to anything involving romance or courtship.

"No, Anna, it is not a personal question. As your sister your marriage certainly concerns me, but as your Queen it is of paramount importance." Elsa's expression was uneasy, tense. "You know that royalty rarely have the luxury of a marriage of love. There is pressure for both of us to marry and have children. Many people would be appalled at the thought of you marrying a commoner like Kristoff; but if you love each other, I will do whatever is necessary to make your union a reality."

Anna was pouting as she listened to Elsa. The topic still unsettled her. It had only been four months since the disastrous mess with Hans, and she still had a lingering distrust of her own heart. "What's the rush, Elsa? I though you'd prefer that I take it slow."

She and Kristoff hadn't really discussed the implications of the fact that Anna was the heir and would take the throne if anything happened to Elsa. Until the mess with Weselton, Anna hadn't really considered it herself. Now she'd had a taste of governing as Regent, and the reality was far more daunting than any fairy tale princess story could be.

Elsa stood and began to pace, trying to put her whirling thoughts in order. Before the attack, Elsa had been so busy cleaning up the mess she had made of things that heirs were the last thing on her mind. She had Anna in the line of succession and that seemed it would suffice for now.

Then the attack had almost resulted in an Arendelle bereft of its entire royal family. That was an existential threat to her people, but it added another layer to Elsa's suffocating blanket of guilt. If things had gone wrong, if Arendelle had lost its monarchy, if her family's line had ended with her because she hadn't the foresight to insist on an adequate chain of succession, the fault would have been hers.

She finally responded to Anna's question, "Yes, I would. But that Weselton attack put both of us at risk. The kingdom could have been left with no one but our distant cousin left to take the throne." She wrung her hands as she paced; Anna knew that was a sign that Elsa was upset. "I would not want to force you into a marriage." She wouldn't look at Anna.

Something about that sentence bothered Anna. She figured it out. "Elsa, there's a world of difference between 'I would not want to force you' and 'I would not force you', isn't there?"

Elsa stopped dead and the guilt on her face was plain. The silence dragged on for a long moment before Elsa whispered, "Yes."

"Elsa, why is this MY problem all of a sudden? You're the Queen. I'm pretty sure that most everybody expects YOU to produce an heir!" Anna pushed back at being cornered into an obligation that chafed her. She crossed her arms and fell into a sullen pout. She was supposed to be just the spare, she knew that and accepted it. This sudden insistence of Elsa's on the succession being Anna's responsibility was bewildering and a little chilling.

"Anna?" Elsa was looking at her fretfully, hands wringing and clenching.

"Elsa, I don't know what else to say. I need to go think about this for a while." Anna stormed out the room so she wouldn't have the opportunity to say something she'd regret.

Elsa watched her go with dismay, not paying attention to the first tendrils of ice creeping up the walls of the room. She sat heavily on one of the chairs and stared at the fire until it was time for bed. She finally noticed the ice and waved it away as she left for her bedroom, hoping she could make it through the night without a nightmare. It was clear Anna wouldn't be there to comfort her tonight.

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Anna stalked back to her room in a huff, flopped on her bed and glared at the ceiling. She hadn't been so mad at Elsa in a long time, certainly not since the Great Thaw. She wasn't quite sure **why** she was so mad. All Elsa had suggested was that Anna should marry Kristoff. She thought she loved him, she thought he loved her, but they had been taking it one day at a time. Why would that suggestion of marriage make her angry?

Maybe she was angry because it came out of nowhere and caught her by surprise. It was out of character for Elsa to even talk about marriage. She had listened to Anna's endless ramblings about Kristoff and Sven, smiling at the stories of the trouble Olaf and Sven could get into. Elsa had invited Kristoff to dinner every week or so, seemed to enjoy his company and would have given him a room in the castle if he had been willing to accept one. As it was, he preferred to stay in the rooms above the stable where the unmarried grooms lived. Anna knew that Elsa wanted happiness for Anna and would do whatever she could to insure it happened. But Elsa had been content to let events develop at their own pace up until now.

"_What's wrong with you, Anna? She's basically telling you to go ahead and marry the man you love! Why would that be something to get angry about?"_ Anna was having an argument in her head. With herself.

"_Do you love him? Really? How do you know that? You've only known him for four months!"_

"_At least it's more than four hours!"_

"_Let's not bring Hans into this discussion, puhleeze! That was something crazy and best forgotten."_

"_As long as you don't forget what a screwup that was! Kristoff loves you! And he's not even afraid of Elsa any more!"_

"_Yeah, well, ice is his life! Of course he wouldn't be afraid of someone who could build an Ice Palace!"_

"_Wait, what? This is nuts. My sister the Queen is telling me to marry the man that I think I love, and that I think loves me, and I'm having an argument about it? With myself? Anna, you have totally lost it."_

Anna decided that she was being irrational. That the reason she had gotten angry was because of the way Elsa had phrased it; the implication that she would force Anna into a marriage had unnerved Anna. This time, they were talking about Kristoff. But it meant that Elsa would actually consider a marriage for Anna that **wasn't** with Kristoff. That 'heir and the spare' nonsense crawled back into Anna's mind and added to her dismay. Anna was beginning to question her own judgment about her sister and her motivations.

But she knew that Elsa loved her, that she would never hurt her.

Then she remembered she had been wrong about that once before.

"_She didn't mean it, Anna, you know that. She didn't mean any of it!"_ Anna told herself.

Perhaps. But it had happened nonetheless.

Anna fell into the kind of self-disparagement she was often prone to. _"What is it with you, Anna? Why do you keep making assumptions about people? Assumption that turn out to be wrong."_

She started remembering another time she had been wrong about someone she felt close to. It had been a few weeks before the attack in October.

The kingdom's weather had been unusually warm for early fall, and Kristoff and the other ice harvesters had been busy supplying the ice necessary to preserve food. Smoked meat and fish were fine, but fresh was better as long as it could be managed.

So it had been ten days since she had seen him. He was too tired to do anything other than be lazy after a picnic lunch, so they were enjoying the afternoon in the shade of the castle wall overlooking the fjord. Kristoff was laying back against a napping Sven strumming softly on his lute while Anna sat next to him and read. Her voice was warm and expressive as she read him one of her favorite Shakespeare sonnets.

"_How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made  
>By looking on thee in the living day,<br>When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade  
>Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?<br>All days are nights to see till I see thee,  
>And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me."<em>

Anna sighed as she finished, "Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard, Kristoff? I've always like that poem so much!"

Kristoff played a few more bars, then looked up at her and replied, "I don't know. I think I've always liked

_'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;  
>Coral is far more red than her lips' red;<br>If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;  
>If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.'<em>."

"Wait, what? You're a fan of Shakespeare?" Anna looked at him, wide-eyed.

Kristoff started tuning one of the lute strings that sounded a little flat. Satisfied with the result, he glanced at her and said, "Yeah. Some of his stuff, anyway."

"I didn't think you could re … " Anna shut her mouth with a snap and blushed.

"Read? Yeah, one of the guys who I spent a lot of time with as an ice apprentice taught me. Ma taught me Futhark, but not a lot of use for that these days." He squinted closely at the tuning pegs thinking it might be time to carve some new ones.

Kristoff finally noticed that he was the only one making sounds and looked at Anna again. She was still blushing and had a very odd look on her face. He figured out why and said, "What, you didn't think I knew how to read?"

A tiny nod. "Kristoff, I'm sorry, I … " She was afraid she had insulted him and he'd never speak to her again. She buried her face in her hands, too embarrassed to look at him.

He shrugged and started playing a little tune that he knew she liked. "A lot of city people think country people are ignorant and unschooled. You're not the first one. I've been able to use that in business, sometimes."

In a very small voice, Anna asked, "You have? How?"

"Well, if the guy you're trying to sell ice to thinks you're too stupid to do simple arithmetic, he'll try to cheat you. When you catch him at it and point out the 'error' in his figures, and maybe growl a little while you do it, he's pretty eager to show his good faith and tack a little extra on." A smirk as he went on, "I'd never turn down an extra profit. I figure it's tuition for teaching the guy that cheating people was a bad idea."

That was the first time that Anna realized there were depths to Kristoff she hadn't considered yet, that maybe her sheltered upbringing had sheltered her from more than how to recognize manipulative princes.

Still staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, she continued down the spiral of beating herself up for her terrible skills at figuring people out. Elsa, Hans, Kristoff. She couldn't do anything right.

She got up, undressed and got into her nightgown, then crawled back into bed, huddling under the blankets, wishing for the warmth of her sister beside her, yearning for the comfort of Elsa's tender embrace to banish these doubts. Anna knew the argument was her fault, but some streak of stubborn pride kept her from going to her sister's room and apologizing.

"_I'll apologize at breakfast_," was her last thought as she fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of wolves, and swords, and icy statues on the fjord. She whimpered but didn't scream.


	4. The Courtship of Elsa's Sister

**Chapter 4 – The Courtship of Elsa's Sister**

_"Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us."  
><em>― **David Richo **

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When Anna woke up the next morning it was still early enough to join Elsa for breakfast. It didn't happen often, but today, once the weak sunlight of a winter morning started to brighten her room and wake her from her uneasy doze, Anna was too troubled to fall back asleep.

Elsa seemed surprised to see her, but smiled and said, "Good morning, honey," in a warm voice. Anna's mumbled response stung Elsa a little, but she shrugged it off as fatigue and tried to stay cheerful. The conversation remained sparse and stilted over the meal. Anna seemed to find some fascination in her bowl of groats and honey and Elsa was too wary of angering her again to push too hard.

As they were finishing, Elsa asked, "What are your plans for today, Anna? I'd like to have a tutoring session with you this afternoon."

"I was going to go find Kristoff and maybe wander around town a little today; I'll be back after lunch for our lesson. Is that okay with you?" Anna winced; she hadn't meant her voice to sound so … snippy. _"Come on, Anna, you were going to apologize. What are you waiting for?"_

Elsa tried not to show her dismay at Anna's tone and facial expression. "Yes. Yes, that's fine. Please tell Kristoff I said hello." She rose and left the room, moving with her usual elegant dignity.

Anna watched her go and almost called out something to reassure Elsa that she wasn't still angry with her. She hesitated too long; Elsa was gone. _"Nice going, Anna. Weren't you supposed to apologize for being such a blockhead last night? You can't do anything right."_

Anna slurped the last of her coffee, grabbed her cloak from the chair next to her and left to find Kristoff.

As she exited the castle door, two Queen's Own Guardsmen saluted and followed her. She growled to herself. Since the Weselton attack, Elsa had increased security on both of them. Anna couldn't even order the men to stay behind.

As she walked into town she remembered how Elsa had cut that option right out of Anna's bag of tricks.

It was the first morning Elsa had been allowed by the doctor to resume light duties. She had summoned Captain Gunnarsson and scheduled an assembly of the entire Queen's Own Guard, Anna and Kristoff in the Throne Room. The Admiral had joined them as well.

With Anna and Kristoff at her side and the men standing at attention in ranks before her throne, Elsa addressed them. The ranks were depleted; Eric and the Admiral hadn't yet assigned replacements for those Queen's Own that had died to protect Elsa from the Weselton men in the courtyard.

"Gentlemen, I must thank you again for your loyalty and devotion to duty in the recent attack. I owe my life to you and your comrades," she said. "The attack did teach us one thing, however high the tuition for the lesson: my sister must be given protection to the same level as I receive."

She continued, "That is why I have called you here today. My sister had correctly taken command of the Marine force she met when she escaped from the castle. If she hadn't, even your courage might not have been enough to save me." Anna blushed, but she still didn't know why Elsa had called this assembly or had her and Kristoff here. "However, in the future, I cannot in good conscience leave decisions about her security in any way ambiguous in their legality."

Elsa went on, "Attention to orders. I, Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, order you with my own voice, and by written decree to be disseminated to the rest of my armed forces, that my sister, Crown Princess Anna of Arendelle, shall never be without at least two bodyguards whenever she leaves the confines of this castle. This order cannot be countermanded by anyone, even Princess Anna, as it comes directly from me and is binding until such time as I may choose to change or cancel it. If, in the sole opinion of Captain Eric Gunnarsson, commanding officer of the Queen's Own Guard, more than two men are appropriate, he shall so order a larger contingent to accompany my sister." She looked at Eric, then turned to the Admiral. "Is this perfectly clear?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Eric responded. The Admiral nodded. Anna fumed. _"Darn it, Elsa you stinker."_

"Thank you, gentlemen. You are all dismissed."

Eric saluted, then marched his men out of the Throne Room. The Admiral bowed to Elsa, then to Anna, and followed them out. This left Elsa alone with Anna and Kristoff. She sat down rather heavily on her throne. She was by no means completely well yet.

"Elsa, what do you think you're doing? You know I don't like being trailed around by the guard!" Anna started to argue but was silenced by the look on Elsa's face and Kristoff's hand on her arm.

"Anna, I know you think guards will just put a crimp in your fun, but the Duke has now shown the entire world my biggest vulnerability: you!" Elsa's voice trembled. She was clearly struggling to control herself. "I can't let you put yourself at risk any longer. Get used to the guard, they will be discreet, but you will NOT leave this castle unprotected again."

Elsa looked at Kristoff. "Kristoff, I trust you with my sister's life. I'm begging you now, please don't let her do anything so stupid as to try and evade her guards. It's one thing to be fearless; another thing entirely to be foolish."

"I'll try my best, Your Majesty." Kristoff had been given permission to use Elsa's given name months ago, but this seemed like a good time for formality.

Elsa smiled wryly. "That's all I can ask, Kristoff. She's a handful, I know." Elsa held out her arms, "Anna, please, I can't risk you, I can't lose you!"

The pleading in Elsa's voice cut through Anna's annoyance as she realized how distraught Elsa was. She knelt next to her sister and took her hands. "I know, honey. I'm sorry for being so stubborn sometimes. I'll listen to the guards and I won't try to sneak away from them."

That had been almost two weeks ago. At least it was only two guards following her this time. While Anna was acting as Regent, Eric had generally assigned four guards to Anna on those few occasions she left the castle.

This was the first time she just wanted to be alone with Kristoff away from the castle, and the guards did annoy her. How could she have some quality time with her maybe-maybe not-boyfriend with a couple of guards hovering around?

It was a bitter November day, mostly overcast with only some brief glimpses of the sun low in the sky to brighten the landscape. Anna shivered in her woolen cloak; the wind was off the fjord and chilled her even through the layers she wore.

It didn't take long for her to walk to the building that was the new Guild Hall for the Ice Harvesters' Guild. It so happened that Kristoff had talked up the idea of forming a guild with all of the other ice harvesters, and they were organizing it now, since there wasn't a lot of actual harvesting to be done at this time of year. He seemed to be looked at as a leader by the others. Once they got around to the formalities, Anna suspected he would be chosen as the guild master.

"Hi, Kristoff," she greeted him. He looked around from the small group of men he was talking to and grinned at her.

"Hi, Feisty Pants! Just give me a minute, okay?" When she nodded, he turned back and finished what he was doing with the others, then grabbed his coat from a hook on the wall, put it on and said to Anna, "Shall we go get some coffee or hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, let's. I need some coffee, didn't sleep well last night," she told him.

They left the Guild Hall, trailed by the two guards. They stayed a discreet few paces behind Kristoff and Anna as they walked to the town Inn, out of earshot but close enough should anything or anyone threatening appear.

Kristoff was content to enjoy the walk with Anna; he was a man of few words and generally listened to Anna's continuous chatter with warm affection. It took him a few moments to realize that there was no happy chatter today. By the time they had settled in to a table at the inn and gotten their coffee, he was worried that Anna still hadn't said anything. It was extremely rare that Kristoff had to be the one to start a conversation.

"Hey, Feisty Pants, why the long face? Something wrong at the castle?"

Anna grimaced and mumbled, "It's Elsa. She's being a … a Queen."

Kristoff said, "Uh, isn't that what she's supposed to be?"

"Not with me!" Anna retorted. She waved at a server and asked for more coffee. Kristoff waited until they were alone again before saying anything.

"What exactly brought this on?" he asked.

Anna scowled at her coffee cup for a moment and muttered, "She should be the one getting married, it's her job."

The non-sequitur puzzled Kristoff. He waited patiently for Anna to go on, making a small encouraging noise.

After taking a gulp of coffee, she glared at him and said, "She asked me if we were going to get married."

"Wait, what?!"

"Well, not exactly like that. She just asked me if we had discussed courtship and everything and I told her it was none of her business and she said it **was** her business and then she went on and on about how the kingdom needs an heir, **another** heir because we already have me as the heir, and she … "

Kristoff reached out to touch her hand, "Hey, slow down. Start from the beginning, will you? You lost me at 'get married'."

Anna looked sheepish and said, "Actually she said 'courtship', not marriage. She wanted to know if you and I had talked about it."

Kristoff broke out in a cold sweat and tried hard not to look too upset. He didn't want Anna to misinterpret his reaction. He was pretty sure he loved Anna, and that she felt the same way about him, but he was insecure about that. Every time he tried to think about it too hard, a little voice in his head started yammering, _"You're just a commoner; what the hell are you thinking? A Princess? Like that will ever happen!"_

"Anna," he said slowly, "I'm just a com ..."

"And no one cares about that. Well, no one who counts, anyway!" Anna stopped him.

He looked askance at her, "Who counts in this?"

"You. Me. Elsa. That's it, those are the only people who count. And since she's the Queen and she's in favor of it, nobody else gets a vote. Except you and me. So there. The only question is, are you and me in favor of it?" Anna deflated a little as she looked at him uncertainly at this last.

"What would your father say if you married a commoner?" Kristoff just couldn't let it go.

"Since he's dead, we'll never have to find out. Kristoff, **Elsa** is okay with this; she likes you. I think she's hoping that you come to her soon and formally ask her for permission to court me. That's like, a trial period, it's not an engagement or a commitment to get married." Anna looked away and mumbled, "I'm a little nervous, too. You're not Hans, I know that, but … "

The silence stretched out until the server came to refill their cups. It gave Kristoff time to get his muddled thoughts in order and gather his courage. Once they were alone again, Kristoff reached over to take Anna's hand, looked into her eyes and said, "Feisty Pants, would you allow me to court you?"

Her smile lit up the room. "Yes! And I will be right there with you when you ask Elsa!"

He felt like leaping for joy and cowering under the table at the same time and said, "Good. That way, when she makes me into an icy statue for the garden pigeons to roost on, you can tell Ma and GrandPabbie what happened to me ..."

"Silly! She won't do that, did you miss the part where I said she likes you? When do you want to ask her?"

"How soon can she fit us into her busy schedule? She's got a kingdom to run, after all," he seemed to remember some quote about _'twere best it were done quickly'_ from one of the plays Anna had read to him. If he waited too long he was afraid he would lose the courage to ask Elsa's permission.

"For her beloved little sister, I'm sure she can squeeze us in pretty soon. Can you do dinner tomorrow? I'll ask her tonight if that works, be sure to wear your best clothes and DO NOT pick your nose!"

"Sheesh, it was just the one time, you'll never let me live that down, will you?" He put his blushing face in his hands.

Anna laughed as she hugged him, "Never!"

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Kristoff tugged at his too-tight collar. This shirt had never before seemed so constricting as to be choking him. He wondered what a high-collared shirt with a cravat would do to him; probably make him faint from lack of oxygen. He sent thanks to what gods there may be that he could wear his open-collar shirt and vest for this dinner, even though it felt like it had shrunk three sizes suddenly.

Dinner was almost over. Elsa was a gracious hostess and tried to put Kristoff at ease; she could tell he was nervous about something and the silly grin Anna had been wearing for the last day and a half gave her a clue about what. She would make it as easy for him as she could.

Once the footmen had served dessert and coffee, Elsa had dismissed them with instructions to leave the carafe on the table. They were alone. Kristoff tried to suppress the buzzing in his head and breathe. He realized that it was dead silent in the room as Anna and Elsa sipped at their coffee and looked at him expectantly.

He reached for his water glass to wet his throat in preparation for asking Elsa for permission to court Anna … and promptly spit the entire contents at Elsa when it went down the wrong pipe. He coughed and choked while Anna pounded on his back and Elsa tried to suppress her giggles while dabbing at herself with her napkin. He finally managed to clear the choking sensation and almost slumped under the table in embarrassment as he realized that he had just spit up all over the reigning Queen of Arendelle. He'd be lucky if all she did was turn him into a garden statue!

"Oh my god, Your Majesty, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to ..." he sputtered, bracing for the icy blast he was sure would be sent his way.

"Kristoff, my name is Elsa, and you know it! You don't need to apologize, I'm not angry. If there's anyone who would understand what sort of calamity being nervous can cause, it would be me." Elsa smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner.

He struggled to compose himself, took a deep breath then sat up straight and said, "Your Majesty, I would seek your permission to court your sister, Princess Anna." He held his breath, praying he had memorized the correct wording.

With an affectionate smile Elsa nodded at him and said, "You have my permission to court my sister, Master Bjorgman." Anna squealed and clapped her hands.

"That's it? That's all it took? Uh, I mean, thank you, Your Majesty, for granting me this boon." Kristoff looked disoriented, as though he had stumbled over a step that wasn't there.

"Kristoff, I appreciate your good manners, but can we go back to 'Elsa' now?" the Queen chuckled as he blushed and nodded. Anna reached to take his hand under the table and his face turned a deeper shade of pink.

Elsa took a last sip of her coffee, then stood and said, "I have some paperwork to finish in my study this evening, so I'm afraid I won't be able to join you in the library after dinner." She winked at Anna and left.

"THAT happened … " Kristoff mumbled, still reeling.

Anna leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, "Yes, and now it's official; you are courting me! And she even gave us permission to canoodle!"

"Huh? What's canoodling?" Kristoff asked.

"Let's go to the library and I'll show you!" smirked Anna. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the dining room.

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Elsa **always** had reports to review and dispatches to sign, so she wasn't fibbing when she excused herself from the usual after-dinner gathering in the library. She wanted Anna and Kristoff to have some privacy to explore the new boundaries that courtship brought to their relationship. Elsa trusted her sister's discretion, and she also trusted that Kristoff knew what would happen to him if he let Anna forget that discretion. Becoming a garden statue was the least she would do to him. Elsa always had a backup plan.

She stopped abruptly as she caught herself humming a lighthearted tune as she read. She hadn't done that in a long time. Examining her feelings as she tried to understand her oddly cheerful mood, she concluded that Kristoff's request for permission to court Anna and the radiant joy on her sister's face had managed to break through the miasma of despair that seemed to cling to Elsa these days. Leaning back in her chair, she focused her gaze out the window and indulged herself in melancholy introspection.

"_Elsa, you haven't been yourself since that attack,"_ she chided herself.

Although in truth, sometimes she wasn't sure just who 'herself' was. The Weselton attack had only been three months after her secret had been revealed and she had reconciled with Anna. That wasn't nearly enough time to fully heal up after the thirteen years of hiding her guilt and shame and staying a recluse to protect her sister and her kingdom, not to mention trying to make amends for the damage the three days of winter had caused.

The ordeal of Anna's kidnapping, her own surrender into captivity to give her sister a chance to escape, and the life-or-death battle had traumatized Elsa again, creating a new layer of raw wounds before the old scars had fully healed. She had just begun to settle in to her new/old role of sister, and certainly her role as queen had acquired more dimensions than she had planned and trained for. Not only did she have to reconnect with the people of Arendelle, her diplomatic problems had mushroomed into something the sleepy kingdom had never dealt with in living memory.

Now everything was different again. The panic attacks and nightmares were just the surface symptoms of a deeper malaise that had Elsa in its grip.

She had been afraid in the years before her coronation; afraid of her own powers, afraid of hurting people, afraid of failing her father's expectations. Her deepest fear, of course, was of hurting Anna again. That had powered the entire howling storm that was the climax to the Great Winter. When Hans had told her Anna hadn't returned from the North Mountain, Elsa KNEW, even if she couldn't admit it to herself, that her magic had struck Anna again. The lie that Anna was dead had finally pushed Elsa into wishing for death for herself; she had heard Hans draw his sword, knew exactly what he was going to do to her, and she had welcomed the release and blessed oblivion he would give her.

But **this** fear, this was different. For the first time in her life she had been assaulted and stabbed, the sheer physicality of it completely strange and terrifying to her. Anna had grown up skinning her knees, falling out of trees, riding bicycles down the staircases and crashing into suits of armor. Elsa had experienced none of that. She had been wrapped in cotton wool. She had never even been bruised. For ten years, she had never been touched by another human being, much less abused and beaten.

Her physical wounds had healed, but the psychic trauma had not. It worried her; Anna was right that a vengeful Elsa prepared to descend on Weselton like some berserk Angel of Death was out of character. Something was driving her down a path she had never traveled before. Where was that push coming from? Elsa didn't much like what she was seeing in herself, now that she was taking some time to poke into the state of her own soul. Had this darkness always been there inside her, was there indeed a monster hiding within, chafing to escape the bonds of her self-control?

And why had she taken to wearing gloves again? Maybe … maybe because she now shied away from contact with anyone that wasn't Anna. Again. Maybe the gloves were a psychic shield that she imagined would keep her from being hurt again. For once the gloves weren't to protect the people around her, they were to protect **her**. This morning when she had seen them, when she had decided to put them on, they had felt odd, but they had also felt safe ... they had made her feel safer, at least a little bit.

As she sat there at her desk, she held up her hands to look at them; they were bare of the gloves. They were also shaking, shaking badly. She grasped the one with the other and clasped them both to her breast. _"No, no, no. Don't feel, don't FEEL."_

But that worked no better than it had on the North Mountain. At least her ice didn't grow to coat the walls of her study with angry red spikes this time.

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Kristoff sat on the couch facing the fireplace in a daze of disbelief. He couldn't believe that he had actually, finally, really truly worked up the courage to ask Elsa's permission to court Anna. He glanced down at Anna, who was curled up next to him, her legs drawn up next to her on the couch, leaning into him while holding his hand.

A silly smile broke out on his face and he nudged her a tiny bit and said, "Hey, Feisty Pants, that HAPPENED!" The rush he felt easily matched that of falling off a two hundred foot cliff while being pursued by an angry snowlem.

A giggle, and Anna snuggled deeper into his side and squeezed his hand. "See? I told you she liked you. Now it's official."

"Yeah, about that … " Kristoff's voice was hesitant.

He hated feeling out of control of a situation, which described how he felt most of the time when he was with Anna. Of course, that didn't explain why from the very first day he had met her his state of mind could more accurately be described as 'exhilarated' rather than 'out of control'. She was a whirlwind; of action, of emotion, of determination. All he could do was tag along and catch her when she fell off the mountain. He would never let her fall. He would throw himself off the highest cliff to catch her if it meant she would be safe.

That didn't mean that he didn't get nervous. Falling off a mountain was easy compared to inching across the shifting ice that was life in a royal court. He had grasped a few points of protocol, it was like learning a new language or a new skill. But his understanding was still tentative, with a large number of missing pieces to put into the picture he was trying to form about what proper behavior looked like.

"What exactly are we supposed to do while courting?" he asked Anna. Kristoff had learned as a young apprentice on the ice that asking was far better than guessing.

He had almost drowned one spring when he tried to cut ice that was too weak to support his 11-year old weight. The older harvesters pulled him out, dried him off and warmed him up, then patiently explained the indicators that said, "DANGER! Thin ice!" to someone alert to the perils and pitfalls of ice.

Lars, one of the older men, sat him down that night after supper and told him, "Kristoff, it's not what you don't know that will kill you so much as what you think you know that's wrong."

"Huh?"

"You thought you knew that ice was thick enough for you to walk on. You were wrong, so you walked out there and broke through. If you'd been alone, you'd be dead. If you weren't sure of the ice, if you didn't **know** how thick it was, you'd have been more careful. See?"

"I … guess so," little Kristoff's voice was hesitant. His teeth still chattered a little and he pulled the fur wrap tighter around him and leaned closer to the fire.

"Never ever be afraid to ask about something you're not sure of. Being a little embarrassed is a lot better than being dead." Lars threw another log on the fire and poured Kristoff more coffee to warm him up.

If he made a mistake in court etiquette, he wouldn't die, the backstabbing among the upper classes was metaphorical not literal. But it would hurt Anna and reflect badly on her and Elsa. He didn't ever want to be a cause of any pain to either one of them. Anna was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and Elsa would do anything to make her sister happy, even put up with a scruffy reindeer herder/ice cutter. He owed her everything he had now.

"What exactly does this 'courting' thing mean?" He rubbed her hand gently and felt the warmth of her body as she wriggled more comfortably into his arms. He felt his own heat rising and thought, _"Ice statue, ice statue, ice statue ..." _ He would NOT fail Elsa's trust in him.

"Well, it means that we are getting to know each other better so we can decide if we want to maybe get married. So we can do things together, go to dinners, balls, public events, ship launchings, celebrations and just about anything in the kingdom that needs the presence of royalty, as in, me or Elsa. She normally prefers to let me do all that kind of stuff, so we'll be spending a lot of time together."

"Uh, are there any rules I need to know about?"

"Yes, we can never be alone together because that would cause a scandal, but that's not a problem, since in public we are obviously not alone plus now I have the guards trailing after me, and here in the castle we're certainly never alone because if nothing else my sister will be chaperoning us, like when we're in here after dinner." Anna finally ran down and Kristoff had a chance to think over what she had said.

"Anna?"

"Yes, Kristoff?"

"Elsa's not here."

A giggle. "Nope."

"So … who's chaperoning us?"

"Elsa."

"Ah … ?"

"Because no one would ever question that the Queen would allow her beloved baby sister to be unchaperoned."

"Ooookay … "

"Kristoff, don't over-analyze it. Just kiss me."

So he did. If this was canoodling, he could get used to it pretty quick.


	5. Powderkeg, Meet Match Match, Powderkeg

**Chapter 5 – Powderkeg, Meet Match; Match, Powderkeg**

"_When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself."  
><em>_**― Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes **_

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"Your Majesty, Your Highness, welcome to Admiralty House." The Admiral and his staff bowed as Anna and Elsa entered the conference room. They would be reviewing the plans for the punitive expedition to Weselton today. Naismith and his staff had been very busy since the Council meeting last week.

Elsa and Anna took their places at the long conference table, then the staff settled into their chairs. Anna looked around with interest; she had never had a reason to come here before. The walls were covered with maps of Arendelle, the surrounding kingdoms and the rest of Northern Europe. An easel with a large board covered with a cloth stood at the other end of the table. Eric Gunnarsson took his place at attention next to the door through which they had entered. Other guardsmen remained in the hallway.

"Thank you, Admiral," Elsa said, nodding at him, giving him permission to begin.

He gestured to one of the Navy captains at the table, who stood and removed the cloth from the board on the easel, revealing a map of the areas surrounding Weselton.

"Your Majesty, sailing time to Weselton is approximately one week, depending on the winds. Upon arrival … "

Anna tried to pay attention, but it was rather dry and uninteresting except for the part that her sister would be sailing with the fleet to destroy the waterfront and port of Weselton, which would demonstrate to the Duke that attacking Arendelle had been a really bad idea.

"_Elsa, I can't believe you are that vindictive. __ And__ I know you said this isn't dangerous, but even the Snow Queen isn't immune to a stray cannonball. Or even a musket ball, for that matter__,__" _Anna worried silently.

As the various officers presented the plan of attack, it became obvious to Elsa that they were being somewhat vague about what her role would be. She finally asked the question, "Admiral, why do you have so little detail about exactly what you wish **me** to accomplish in this invasion?"

There was a sudden silence in the room, and if Anna had to describe it, the word 'nervous' seemed the best fit. After clearing his throat, the Admiral said, "Your Majesty, there are two reasons for that. The first reason is that we would prefer that you not be put at risk any more than necessary."

"_Hallelujah!"_ thought Anna. **She** could certainly agree with that approach. Maybe Elsa wouldn't put herself in peril again after all.

Elsa seemed offended, however, and snapped, "Don't you think that I am capable of being useful, Admiral? Do you question my courage after all I've done?"

Naismith was caught off guard by her intensity. He tried to reassure her, "Not at all, Your Majesty. And that leads me to explain the second reason for our ill-defined tactics for this assault ..."

The Queen did not let him finish; she leaned forward and interrupted him, "Please do enlighten me, Admiral. I would have thought that a week was long enough to solidify a battle plan."

Anna was perplexed at her sister's attitude. Elsa normally allowed her subordinates to do their jobs without interference. This belligerent tone was out of character and the consternation it created in the room was palpable. These were brave men, men tested in battle. But Elsa in full-on Snow Queen mode could unman Thor himself.

"_Good thing I'm not a man,"_ Anna muttered, then raised her hand and blurted out, "Admiral, would you please explain what you mean for my benefit; I'm not as familiar with military operations as Els … Her Majesty is." She hoped to deflect Elsa's anger long enough for her to regain her normal equanimity.

Naismith seemed grateful for the distraction; he admitted, "Your Majesty, the problem is that we are rather unfamiliar with the capabilities and limits of your magical power. Your battle alongside your guards was impressive and allowed that small group to defeat a much larger force. But what we are attempting to do in Weselton is on a larger scale, a much larger scale."

The Queen remained skeptical and tight-lipped, but she nodded at him to continue.

"If I may draw an analogy: what you accomplished in the courtyard is what we would describe as a small-unit skirmish, primarily using small arms such as muskets and pistols. The Weselton attack is more like a full-scale combined arms battle using artillery and naval gunnery. We know how your magic works as a musket; we don't know how it works as a cannon."

Elsa fell into a thoughtful expression. He was right, he didn't know, none of them did. Furthermore, SHE didn't know how her magic worked on a large scale. Raising the Ice Palace was a blur of unfettered emotion at finally throwing off the inhibitions of thirteen years of concealment. The fight in the Ice Palace was the same as her fighting in the courtyard. The gigantic howling storm that occurred when she escaped the dungeon wasn't under her control at all; it was driven by her fear and worry for Anna's fate and was totally chaotic. She hadn't tried to recreate **that** effect on a controlled basis since the Thaw. She wasn't sure that she could. Or wanted to.

A flush appeared on her cheeks as she recognized that she had been out of line. In her most neutral tone of voice she asked, "You're right, Admiral. I confess that I had not considered that. How should we remedy our lack of knowledge?"

An officer that she recognized as Captain Wigdahl raised his hand and offered, "If I may, Your Majesty? Your magic is a new weapon. I think to define the limits of your magic we need to do some field exercises, much as we do with all new weapons."

His words startled Elsa into exclaiming, "Field exercises? You mean, we go out and I practice using it with the ships and men we would take to Weselton?"

"Exactly so, Your Majesty. Not the entire force, but if we took one or two ships and perhaps a target hulk along, and sailed into one of the smaller fjords not far from here, we could work out some of the tactics we will use against the Weselton navy and the harbor. I think you have enough experience with individual combat for **that** not to be an issue," Captain Wigdahl concluded. "One thing in particular we need to establish: how physically taxing is your magic when you use it?"

She sat back in her chair, confusion warring with embarrassment as she absorbed what he had said. She had been drained to the point of collapse after the battle in the courtyard, but that had involved days of little sleep, extreme physical activity and bloody wounds. Without that physical activity and blood loss, how long could she use her power? It would be right disconcerting for her to faint at a critical moment, wouldn't it now? Not conducive to the reputation of an all-powerful Snow Queen at all.

Elsa's eyes flicked sideways at Anna. She had that too-familiar 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' look of total innocence on her face, and a rush of gratitude flooded through Elsa. Her sister had defused what could have been an unseemly explosion of inappropriate emotion on Elsa's part. She reached for Anna's hand under the table and squeezed it gently, hoping her message was clear. An answering squeeze reassured her that Anna understood.

"Admiral Naismith, I must apologize for my misunderstanding. As usual, you and your staff only had my best interests at heart, and the best interests of Arendelle. My ill-mannered response was unbecoming. I can only ask your forbearance and understanding. Stress is no excuse for rudeness, but it is the only one I can offer," Elsa said, chagrined.

"No apologies are necessary, Your Majesty. A thick skin is a prerequisite for command of a warship; we've found the bullets bounce off better that way." His little joke lightened the mood considerably. "May I assume that you are willing to undertake the war games we have proposed?" Naismith made a note to think of some way to let the Princess know how much he appreciated her deft handling of the situation.

"Yes, I am willing. And I will be open to any and all suggestions concerning effective use of my magic. When would you like to undertake this exercise?"

Naismith gestured at another one of the men seated at the table, "Commander Hoyland, what is the weather forecast?"

Hoyland hesitated and responded, "You know our forecasts are only accurate about 20% of the time, but the barometer is indicating rising air pressure, which generally means no storms, at least."

The Admiral nodded, then turned to Elsa and suggested, "Your Majesty, we should take advantage of this and schedule the exercise as quickly as possible. Could you be available for tomorrow and the day after? That should be sufficient time for us to answer the key questions, at least."

Elsa replied, "Yes, I can clear my schedule. What time do we sail?"

"Morning ebb tide will be around 7 a.m., Your Majesty. If you could be at the dock by 6?" asked Naismith.

"That's fine, Admiral. Consider it done."

Once this was settled, the last topic to be discussed was the timing of the attack. It would be December in a few days, a month when the weather was the most unpredictable. If they sailed within the week, **and** all went well, the fleet could be back in Arendelle by Yul. But the Admiral suggested that there was no need to move so precipitously; the Duke would not be able to materially improve his forces or his defenses during the winter months. And delaying the attack would create doubt and uncertainty in the Duke's mind, with an added layer of fearful anticipation.

An hour later, all the details had been laid out, with an agreement that the fleet would sail to Weselton sometime in late January or early February. They also set a schedule for updates every two weeks or so, as more information came in from Weselton. Elsa thanked them all for their diligence and attention to duty and the Admiral dismissed the staff, all except Nordholm. When the room was empty except for the five of them, he asked Elsa, "Your Majesty, is there anything else you believe we need to discuss?"

Elsa had remained rather sternly calm throughout the discussion once they had settled the issue of the war games, now she rubbed her temples with her gloved hands.

"I only suggest that we try to minimize loss of life when we destroy the docks and warehouse district, Admiral. I realize that … collateral damage … is unavoidable, but we can try to mitigate it as best we can. I intend for the Duke to pay a very high price for the harm he has done to me … to Arendelle, but his people had no complicity in his evil. If we can do this without killing anyone, we should try to do that."

He bowed as he murmured, "As you say, Your Majesty."

He glanced at Nordholm, then turned back to Elsa and cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, there is one last thing that you need to hear. Colonel Nordholm has been leading the effort to organize a group of intelligence gatherers that would be responsible for sniffing out plots like the one we just beat off before we are caught by surprise."

Elsa nodded. The Admiral had discussed this with Anna right after the attack. Anna had relayed the information to Elsa when reviewing everything that was going on while Elsa was recovering. Once she returned to her duties, Elsa had approved his moving forward with the effort. Arendelle could not afford another surprise attack that would catch them totally unawares.

Colonel Nordholm passed a sheet of paper to Elsa and Anna. "Your Majesty, immediately after the attack was over, we sought out people in the kingdom that had personal knowledge of Weselton. It so happens that over the years, Arendelle has become a refuge of sorts for those who chafe under the rule of the Duke. We were able to find a select few who were willing to return to Weselton under new identities and stir around to scout out the situation."

Anna was fascinated. Spying and undercover activities had always excited her as she read history books and novels of political intrigue. She paid close attention to the Colonel as he continued.

"These agents have sent back some preliminary reports, and it was unsurprising to hear that the Duke has painted a picture of you to his populace as a witch and a sorceress, a deadly threat to the people of Weselton. That started right after you kicked him out of Arendelle and cut off trade, and is perfectly in character for him. But there was something unexpected discovered by our agents as well. There apparently is great unrest in Weselton against the Duke's rule."

"Unrest, Colonel?" asked Elsa.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Duke's greed has created great riches, but those riches are reserved for him and a few toadies. The rest of the population lives in poverty and want. The situation has resulted in an active resistance movement seeking to depose the Duke."

He gestured to the papers he had given to Elsa and Anna. "That report lays out what details our people have been able to find out so far. It seems that the resistance has a charismatic leader who uses the name 'Rödräv'. The name is all we have. There apparently is no description of this man. He has been stirring up trouble for the Duke for a while, and is somewhat of a folk hero to their common people."

"'Rödräv'? That means 'Red Fox'. Interesting _nom de guerre_. What could be the meaning of that name, do you think?" Elsa wondered.

Nordholm shrugged, "Who can say, Your Majesty? The red fox is a known predator of weasels, perhaps it is a barb aimed at the Duke. He is known as _'The Little Weasel'_ after all." Anna giggled at this suggestion, then subsided at a disapproving glance from Elsa.

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, then Elsa asked, "What will you be doing with this information, Colonel?"

The Admiral answered for him, "Our intentions are to make contact, if possible, with this Rödräv, and offer him our help. One more arrow in our quiver to repay the Duke for his treachery."

Anna had been thinking over this information and raised her hand shyly. Elsa glanced at her and said, "Anna, Please, what do you think?" Elsa hoped her sister could hear the pride in her voice. Her capable handling of the kingdom as regent more than entitled her to speak in this council.

"Well, it occurs to me that the two things are related. His making you into a deadly menace and this resistance movement," Anna said slowly. "If there is an external threat to the people of the duchy, they'll be more likely to keep him in power to protect them. So, those who want to overthrow him won't have as much support as they would otherwise."

Elsa looked thoughtful, then glanced at Nordholm and Naismith. "That … makes sense, in some twisted, weaselly way. What do you gentlemen think?"

Nordholm answered, "Your Majesty, I think that Princess Anna may have the right of it. With our next set of dispatches to Weselton, I will ask that our agents there explore this as best they can."

"Very well, Admiral. Is that all, then? I find myself … fatigued, it has been a long week and I believe I may have overestimated my progress in healing," Elsa said. Her fatigue was more mental than physical, but it sapped her just the same. And if she were to be totally honest with herself, she had been so eager to get back to work that she **had** probably overdone it. If she was busy, there was no time to brood, no time to fall into melancholy reflection, and she slept deeply and dreamlessly from exhaustion. But now was not the time to continue overworking herself. She suspected the next two days would test her stamina to the limits, and a good night's sleep was critical preparation.

"That is all for now, Your Majesty. We will update you with more data as we receive it. One thing we have set up is a system of getting messages out of Weselton by means of fishing vessals that meet our fishermen and pass along information. Given the travel time involved, our two week schedule of updates should be adequate. I will, of course, come to you immediately if something urgent appears in the dispatches."

At that, Elsa rose to leave and Anna followed her as the Admiral and the Colonel bowed to them. Their carriage was waiting for them, with mounted Queen's Own to accompany them back to the castle. It was a quiet ride. Elsa was clearly not in the mood for talk, and Anna was subdued again by the gravity of the day's discussions.

It was time for a late lunch when they got back to the castle, but Anna's appetite was gone. She was still unsettled by the thought that her sister was going to use her magic to actively destroy something. Or someone. Elsa wouldn't actually KILL the Duke, would she? At least there would be some months before they sailed off to Weselton. Maybe … maybe there was time enough that she could persuade Elsa to take a different path.

"Elsa, I'm not really hungry, so I'm going to skip lunch if it's okay with you," she said as they walked into the castle.

"As you wish, Anna. Will you be at dinner?" Elsa seemed distracted, not really listening to Anna.

"Probably," Anna looked at her sister like she was some stranger in a masquerade costume. "Elsa, this isn't you. What's going on? First the willingness to go tear up Weaseltown, then the rudeness dealing with the staff, something's not right with you."

Elsa kept walking, saying nothing, until Anna grabbed her hand and said, "Elsa!" The soft glove felt almost like her sister's skin. Almost.

Elsa spun away and clasped her hand to her breast, a mirror of her actions at her Coronation. The glove had stayed on her hand this time, however, and her eyes were focused somewhere else, somewhere not on Anna. She backed up against the wall, panting, groping for a door handle that wasn't there.

"_Damn it, I did it again,"_ Anna groaned to herself. She backed away a step, recognizing that her sister was in the throes of a flashback to coronation night.

"Elsa, I'm sorry, it's okay, you're okay," Anna spoke in a soft, warm, non-threatening voice. Elsa wasn't hearing her yet. "Elsa, you're safe, take a deep breath, just try to breathe deeply, okay?" Anna was careful not to approach her sister. Not yet, not until she came back from wherever she was in her head. All she had was her voice to reach out to Elsa.

A few minutes of reassurance and coaxing later, Elsa looked around as though puzzled, then focused on Anna and said, "Anna? I … I'm sorry, I ..." She closed her eyes and took a long shuddering breath, then stood straight and saw that they were in a hallway, not a ballroom full of people staring at her in shock.

Anna reached out tentatively, letting Elsa see her approaching, alert for any hint of her pulling away. She closed the gap and gently patted her sister on her shoulder, saying, "You're okay, you're safe, we're here getting ready for lunch. Are you hungry? Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

Elsa nodded, taking Anna's hand in her own. But then after a few steps she stopped, and shook her head. "I thought you weren't hungry?"

"I'm getting hungrier now. You know me!" Anna flung her hand wide in an airy wave that almost knocked a bust of some Viking ancestor off its pedestal.

Elsa gave her a skeptical look.

"Hey, I'm allowed to change my mind if I want." Anna pouted as she grabbed Elsa's hand again.

They continued to walk toward the dining room. Anna handed her cloak to a footman, then got Elsa settled at the table. "I'll be right back, okay? Have some tea."

A shaky nod, then Elsa took off her gloves and reached for her teacup, her trembling hand causing it to rattle against the saucer. Anna watched until she had taken a sip, then went off to find Gerda to ask her to begin serving lunch.

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Anna insisted on spending the night with Elsa.

"You need to get up early and I'm going to make sure you get a good night's sleep, Elsa, so no arguments!"

They took turns brushing each others hair, crawled into bed and giggled over Olaf and Sven antics, then finally let the conversation taper into drowsy mumbles and yawns.

Regular breathing and soft snores told Elsa that her sister was finally asleep. Elsa had feigned sleepiness to lull Anna into drifting off, but sleep refused to come to her tonight, even though she knew she had to be at the docks so very early. Her mind insisted on reliving the events of the meeting, anticipating the field exercises planned for tomorrow. And despite her good intentions she found she was still plagued by uneasy reflections. She couldn't seem to break the cycle and relax.

Her behavior at the meeting had been testy and inappropriate. Elsa's management style was to choose the most competent advisers she could find and let them advise. She would normally tease out clarity and critical details when she reviewed their recommendations, but today she had bristled and overreacted to a perfectly innocent remark by the Admiral. What was wrong with her?

Anna shifted in her arms and poked an elbow into her ribs, producing a brief twinge of pain and a muffled, "Oof!" from Elsa. She held perfectly still to see if Anna would stir, but she was just settling into a more comfortable position and resumed her muted snoring without becoming aware that Elsa was still awake.

The thought of using her magic tomorrow was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Since the night she had raised her Ice Palace with such manic giddiness, she had not used her powers to create anything more impressive than a skating rink. Her magic was under control; even under extreme stress during the Weselton attack only small patches of ice had appeared without her willing them into being. She had nothing to worry about tomorrow, nothing at all.

"Elsa!" Anna sat bolt upright and thrashed around until she realized where she was. "Oh, sorry. Just a bad dream, the one where I can't find you and keep running through the castle."

It was the perfect excuse for Elsa to tug on her sister's arm and say, "I know that one, but I'm here, it's okay. Come on, let me hold you so I can hear your heartbeat, hmm? That way we'll both be sure where we are."

Anna nodded and lay back down, pulling Elsa to nestle her head in the crook of her neck. "You'll never leave me again, promise?"

"I promise, Anna. Now, sleep. I need to get up early, even if you don't."

The lullaby of her sister's heart finally calmed Elsa enough to let her doze off. Tomorrow would be a long day.


	6. Do the Magic!

**Chapter 6 – Do the Magic!**

"_The first way to lose a state is to neglect the art of war; the first way to gain a state is to be skilled in the art of war." _**― Niccolò Machiavelli, _The Prince _**

"_All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride." _**  
>― Sophocles, <em>Antigone <em>**

***** November 26, 1840 – Aboard Her Majesty's Ship _King Agdar_ *****

Elsa stood on the quarterdeck of the _King Agdar,_ flagship of her Navy. It was a tradition in Arendelle that the flagship be named after the most recently deceased monarch. The way Elsa's stomach felt this morning, she thought they'd be renaming it the _Queen Elsa_ before the day was over. The waters were choppy, swirling winds driving the waves in odd directions from one moment to the next, the ship corkscrewing wildly. When she had been on her tour of the kingdom in October, the weather was still rather mild, the seas relatively smooth, or at least regular. Then, her stomach had quickly adapted to the rhythm as the ship rose and fell. This was totally different, and her sea legs were slower to come.

Her iron self-control was the only thing keeping her from leaning over the ship's railing she was grasping with white-knuckled fingers and providing nourishment for the cod and herring. Not that there was anything for her to spew into the sea, she had prudently skipped breakfast. It didn't seem to be helping.

"We will be at our destination in less than half an hour, Your Majesty," Captain Wigdahl informed her. She nodded curtly, not being sure if her control extended to actually speaking. He saluted, recognizing the signs of sea sickness and knowing only time would cure it.

Wigdahl crossed over to the other rail where Admiral Naismith, Colonel Nordholm and a few others stood.

"I suspect that it would be prudent for us to start our exercise on shore, Lars," Naismith said to Nordholm. "It will allow Her Majesty to recover a bit. The waters in a protected fjord will be smoother than these, and we can have hot tea and soup for a quick lunch, then re-board ship for more tests."

"That will fit nicely with the outline I've made, Admiral. We can anchor the target hulk at some distance from the shore and do some range checks to start. Then work our way up to more complex maneuvers."

The sun was just peeking over the horizon. The small fjord where they were going to experiment with Elsa's magic was only about 90 minutes' sail from Arendelle's harbor and had a small stretch of beach where they could set up tents and a camp for the night. Only Elsa and a small party would spend the night on land; the crews of the ships had their own bunks and hammocks and were used to sleeping on board.

Thirty minutes later, Elsa, her guards and the Admiral's staff were on shore. It took a few minutes for the ground to stop swaying, but she soon felt well enough to ask, "What shall we start with, Colonel?"

Nordholm waved out to where a single ship was anchored approximately half a mile away. It was the target hulk, a beat-up old ship used for target practice until it was so full of holes it sank. Once it was anchored, the men rowed away to one of the other frigates, which then moved far enough away to be out of danger of getting iced.

"Range practice, first, Your Majesty. I would like you to 'shoot' at that ship with your magic. If you could, please be cognizant of how you feel as you do so. When you've finished, we will discuss fatigue, how difficult you found it and so on."

"Very well. If you gentlemen would be so kind as to stand behind me?" Elsa walked a few paces toward the waterline of the beach, breathing deeply and centering herself for this effort. She raised her hands and concentrated on the target hulk, then willed her magic to fly.

Bright white bolts of ice shot from her palms and covered the distance to the anchored ship quickly. Nordholm estimated it traveled not quite as fast as a crossbow bolt, if there were a crossbow on this earth that had that kind of range. Her aim wasn't bad, but not precisely accurate. The bowsprit of the target froze over when the ice bolts splashed against it. Coated in thick ice and dripping icicles, the weight pulled the bow of the ship down, almost dipping the bowsprit into the water of the fjord and raising the stern out of the water.

"Humph!" Elsa let out a disgusted snort. "I was aiming for the center." Hearing no comment from her men, she turned and saw they had rather awe-struck expressions on their faces. "What? Am I that bad, Colonel?"

Nordholm gulped and replied, "Ah, not at all Your Majesty. That was amazing, actually. One of our land-based cannon would barely reach that far, and accuracy would be … iffy. A ship-board cannon, with the motion of wind and wave, would be even less effective."

"Oh, well, then … " She felt a little prouder of herself. "Let me try it again. I'll attempt to coat the entire ship this time." She concentrated a little harder, trying for a tighter focus. A gesture and the entire ship was coated in thick ice. "There," a smug tone crept into her voice.

"How do you feel, Your Majesty? Is that physically taxing?" Naismith asked.

Elsa looked thoughtful, "No, not yet at least. It actually is a little … exhilarating. It's wiped away the last of the seasickness as well."

"Excellent. Let us continue then. If you could … "

They spent the rest of the day trying out various attacks on the poor battered target hulk. By sunset, Elsa could raise the entire ship with an iceberg reaching fifty feet in the air, or simply plug the cannon muzzles with ice to disable them. It hadn't taken long for the crews of the two ships anchored in the fjord to line their railings and actually begin to cheer when she made some particularly spectacular ice creation around the ship. She found herself playing to the crowd a bit, adding little showy elements to her efforts.

It was twilight when the Admiral said, "I think we have accomplished quite a bit, Your Majesty. Your control and precision definitely improved over the course of the day. How tired are you?"

"I must admit I am very tired, Admiral. I'm trying to put it in some sort of perspective. Perhaps … as tired as I would be walking all the way to the North Mountain? I really don't have any practical comparison, since my life has been bereft of serious, sustained physical exertion up until now. I feel fatigued, I'm sure I will fall asleep tonight immediately, and deeply. But I am by no means as drained as I was at the end of that battle in the courtyard."

"Good. Considering that you have been using your magic for the better part of five hours, with a short break for lunch, that's heartening. Let us have supper then, let you recover, and try this again from aboard ship tomorrow."

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The following morning dawned clear and cold, the sunlight filtering through the sides of her tent waking Elsa from a deep slumber. She had indeed gone to bed immediately after supper and felt completely rested this morning. Better than she had in several weeks, in fact. Exercising her magic had been … fun, recalling the memories of how she had felt while building her Ice Palace.

After a quick breakfast and coffee, the party boarded the ships again and Elsa prepared to see the difference being on a moving platform made to her speed and accuracy. This time the crews of the ships had to actually work the ships, so she didn't have the cheering spectators of yesterday.

Elsa stood in the bow of the ship as it bore down on the target hulk at a brisk clip before the wind. She concentrated and flung her hands out in a sweeping gesture and watched with satisfaction as the hulk was raised into the air on a huge platform of ice. Her ship flew past, then tacked to come around again. It was toward the end of the day, and the Admiral had told her that the target hulk was expendable. This time, she brought her hands together in a clapping motion, and the ship was crushed to splinters between two walls of ice. A final gesture dissolved all the ice and there was nothing but the flotsam of broken wood floating on the fjord.

She turned to see what the Admiral and the others had to say about the results.

"That was magnificent, Your Majesty! Utterly amazing! I would say that we have all the information we need to precisely define what we will accomplish when we sail to Weselton!" Nordholm gushed.

"I'm glad to hear it, Colonel. Shall we then plan on another strategy meeting next week, now that you have the information you need to create the detailed tactics?" Elsa was elated; she felt … powerful, in a way that she had never felt before. She was looking forward to teaching the Duke a lesson.

"Yes, a week should be plenty of time."

"Very well, then. Admiral? Shall we return to Arendelle?" Elsa asked. He nodded, then gestured to Wigdahl.

Wigdahl gave the order, "Set all plain sail, Lieutenant. Signal the _Viking Queen_ that we are setting course for Arendelle immediately."

Elsa felt the deck shift under her feet at the ship heeled over and changed course, then settled into the return heading to Arendelle. She would be glad to be back, but this experience had been … intoxicating. She was light-headed, energized by what she had learned about using her powers. She couldn't wait to share the experience with Anna.

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They had made it back in plenty of time for Elsa to freshen up and change for dinner. Anna couldn't believe how animated and vivid Elsa's description of the past two days was. Who was this chattering person and what had she done with her sister? Elsa was … burbling. A word that Anna hadn't thought would apply to reclusive Elsa in a thousand years, but there it was; she was actually burbling.

It was unfortunate that Anna couldn't bring herself to share Elsa's enthusiasm for the topic of her burbles.

"Anna, it was amazing, it was exhilarating! I haven't felt that … that free since I ran away to the North Mountain!" Elsa couldn't hold back her joy at how she felt using her magic. It took her a few minutes to notice that Anna seemed indifferent or even hostile to what Elsa was describing to her.

"Anna? What's wrong? Aren't you happy I'm using my magic so effectively?"

Her sister was slow to answer. "Elsa, you know I love you and nothing could make me happier than knowing that you are comfortable with your magic and that you accept it as part of you."

"But? Why do I hear a 'but' in there somewhere, Anna?" Elsa was wary and a little disappointed.

"But … your practice with your magic was a dress rehearsal for you sailing off and destroying Weaseltown. Your magic is beautiful, Elsa. Everything you've created with it is beautiful. I just hate the thought of you turning that incredible gift towards destruction, that's all." Anna looked away so she couldn't see the hurt in Elsa's eyes.

If Anna had thrown a bucket of ice water into Elsa's face it would have had less impact, since cold never bothered her.

Stung and offended by Anna's blunt response, Elsa asked, "What do you know about it, Anna? What makes that an opinion that I should care about?"

Elsa wasn't expecting Anna to throw a sheaf of papers across the table at her. "While you were out sailing with the boys, I was getting caught up on our diplomatic dispatches, Elsa! Have you READ these? At least two of these kingdoms are sounding like they expect us to declare war on them if they don't go along with our request to reduce trade with Weaseltown! They're spooked by what the Snow Queen might do to them!"

"That's ridiculous, Anna, and you know it!" Elsa snapped. "We've made it perfectly clear to everyone that Arendelle has no intention of making war on anybody!"

"Really? Then what exactly were you out there practicing today, Elsa? Any sane person would call that war making." Anna snapped right back.

"That's different! Weselton attacked us, they kidnapped you, they tried to loot Arendelle, people would have starved if we hadn't managed to push them back!"

"You know that, and I know that, but the rest of the world doesn't know that, Elsa! After we kicked the weasels back where they came from, the rumors started flying about how the Snow Queen fought off a battalion of troops single handed. How she destroyed a fleet of ships with the flick of her hand."

"Those stories are nonsense, Anna. I barely survived a fight with less than fifty men, I wasn't alone doing it, and I never had anything to do with capturing those ships. That was the Navy doing their jobs." Elsa was defensive.

"Yeah, but the rumors aren't saying that, they're saying you're some unstoppable Ice Witch. And that miserable little dung-pile of a Duke is exaggerating what happened, looking for sympathy by blaming it all on us, and trying to convince other kingdoms that we're a threat to them, too. Not to mention what he's telling his people about the wicked Ice Queen and what she'll do to them when she attacks."

"It's all lies, Anna. No one believes that rubbish."

"Then why are the diplomatic notes we're getting starting to sound so belligerent if no one believes 'that rubbish'? It's like they're warning you off from trying to attack them."

"Those are just misunderstandings. We'll clear them up when we respond to them."

"That's all you can say? How do you think they'll sound after you actually DESTROY Weselton, Elsa? How are you going to explain **that**? Why are you so determined to sail there and do this yourself instead of just sending the Navy to beat him like a dusty rug?"

"Because he HURT me!" Elsa shrieked and slammed her hands onto the table, laying down a thick coating of ice. Anna realized she had pushed Elsa too far. Angry yellow spikes had sprouted like quills on a hedgehog from the walls and ceiling when her sister had screamed.

Anna was horrified. Elsa was panting and grinding the heels of her palms into her forehead, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Because he hurt me," she whispered, and buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

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"I wish you had been there to see it, Kristoff! She reminded me of that barn cat that was so proud of the dead mouse it brought me that one time. And I love her, but I felt just about as disgusted as I did about that mouse, and that feeling just slipped out and then we spiraled into a shouting match before I knew what happened."

"She's pretty sensitive to your feelings about her, Anna, and that wasn't the most tactful thing you could have done," Kristoff said. "I can understand how she would have taken that so hard." Kristoff had been busy with Ice Guild business and hadn't been around the castle since Elsa got back.

Anna and Kristoff were heading for the library after dinner. A dinner where Elsa had not made an appearance. Elsa had not shared a meal with Anna for three days. After the outburst when Anna had pressed her about the diplomatic notes, she had gone to her room and stayed there.

Kai conveyed a message the next morning telling Anna, "Her Majesty is indisposed and requests that you take over her routine correspondence, Your Highness."

"It was awful, Kristoff. I just sat there like an idiot when she fell apart. She finally stood up so fast she knocked her chair over, waved her hand to melt all the ice and ran out of the room."

"And you haven't talked to her since?" Kristoff couldn't believe it. "Why not?"

They entered the library. The fire was crackling in the fireplace and Kristoff noticed that Anna had apparently requested tea and cookies from Gerda, as a tray was waiting for them. Anna grabbed a couple of cookies and sat on the couch.

"Because I'm an idiot. Did you miss that part?" Anna stuffed a cookie in her mouth and pouted. "Honestly? I … I didn't know what to say. On the one hand, I really, really upset her. On the other hand, I think she's wrong to use her magic this way. So if I apologize, it's like I'm approving of her going off and destroying Weselton." She looked at Kristoff, who was still standing near the door. "Well? Aren't you going to sit down?"

Kristoff hemmed and hawed and finally said, "Uh, what about that whole chaperon thing? Elsa's not here this time, and – "

"Actually, she is," said Elsa. She stood in the doorway, looking hesitant and unsure of herself. "May I join you?"

Anna jumped up from the couch and looked Elsa over carefully. Her sister seemed a bit haggard, with the shadows of dark circles under her eyes and hair that was more unkempt than Elsa would usually allow herself to show in public. She was dressed in her nightgown and dressing robe, even though it was early evening. Apparently she had come directly from her room without bothering to get dressed.

"Uh, El … Elsa, sure you can join us." Anna stammered. "Are you okay? You don't look … uh, well."

Kristoff fidgeted, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, embarrassed to be witnessing something this intimate between the sisters. He decided he needed to leave. He said, "I think I'll be going now," and headed for the door.

As he passed Elsa, she reached out to put a hand on his arm to stop him. "No, Kristoff, please stay."

"But, Your … I mean, Elsa, you and Anna, uh, this is family business, private, I should leave you two alone," he protested. He was uncomfortable being there knowing that the two women had things to discuss that he probably shouldn't hear.

"And if you intend to become part of this family, you should probably see all sides of it. Before it's too late to run away screaming." She had a wan smile as she tugged gently to pull him back toward the couch. He sat next to Anna and Elsa settled in on Anna's right. She reached out and took Anna's hand in her own.

"I owe you an apology for the other night, Anna. You were right and I was wrong." Her voice was so soft Kristoff had to strain to hear it.

"Elsa, I ..." Anna tried to respond but Elsa held up her hand to stop her.

"No, honey, let me finish. You approval means everything to me, and the shock of what you were saying overwhelmed my willingness to listen to you at first. It's hard, I know, but never let me intimidate you into not telling me what I need to hear, even if I don't want to hear it."

Anna nodded slowly. "Ooookay. What made you change your mind?"

"For these last three days I've done nothing but think over what you said. And get caught up on reading those diplomatic dispatches. You were right, Arendelle is ... no, **I**** am** perceived as a threat now. That's … disconcerting. And uncomfortable." The flickering light from the fireplace threw shadows across Elsa's face that emphasized the fatigue and worry etched there.

"Does that mean you're not going to go to Weselton?" Anna asked. She could hope, couldn't she?

Elsa stared into the fire for a moment, then said, "I can't promise that, Anna. We still need to take action against the Duke. Arendelle was attacked; we have the right to defend ourselves. We **must** defend ourselves; that's part of the oath the monarch swears when they are crowned, to protect and defend the realm."

"But ..." Anna began to protest and Elsa shook her head.

"I know that it seems harsh, Anna, but 'turn the other cheek' doesn't work between nations. If we don't show a willingness to fight off attackers, we'll soon be overwhelmed. Arendelle is a small kingdom. It's remained independent because our history has shown that our people will not submit to invaders. I don't want to change that ... I can't change that, not if Arendelle is to stay free."

Anna slumped back and said, "This sounds like one of those tutoring sessions we've had." She looked at Elsa, "So that still doesn't mean that you, personally, have to go sailing off with the fleet. That's what we have Admiral Naismith for."

Kristoff had been silent through the entire exchange, but he had been listening as though his life depended on it. If he were ever going to actually become 'Prince Consort Kristoff', it might. If this was the sort of thing Elsa was tutoring Anna about, maybe he should ask to sit in on some of those sessions.

Elsa squeezed Anna's hand and said, "We can talk about that more, but I'm pretty set on going myself. I'm sorry I snapped at you, though. You are my conscience, reminding me I'm not all-powerful. Just like in ancient Roman triumphs, when there was someone to remind the Caesars they were mortal."

"What's that about?" Kristoff's education was a practical one, and ancient Roman history wasn't part of it.

The question gave Anna an opportunity to squeeze her sister's hand and say, "Well, those guys had slaves to do it, but I guess I'll take the job." She turned to Kristoff and explained, "When the old Roman emperors or generals had a big parade to celebrate some awesome feat of … whatever, it could go to their head. You know, streets lined with crowds cheering their heads off, being showered with riches and stuff? So they would have a slave stand next to them in their chariot muttering, 'Remember, thou art mortal!' so they wouldn't get too full of themselves."

Turning back to Elsa, she continued, "Okay, honey. I get it, although a swelled head is the last thing I'd ever expect from you. Being your strong right hand means I have to tell you stuff you don't want to hear, and not get upset when **you** get upset about me telling you that stuff. Just, remember that I love you, okay? Even if I'm telling you things you don't want to hear?" The look in Anna's eyes begged her sister to understand how much she loved her.

"I will, Anna. Just remember I love you, too, even if I'm angry enough to scream at you," Elsa replied. She leaned into Anna's warmth and closed her eyes as Anna put her arm around her and gave her a little hug.

A few minutes went by. "Kristoff?"

"Yes, Anna?"

"Pass me a couple of cookies, will you? I think Elsa fell asleep, and I can't move."

"Okay." He got up and brought the tray over so Anna could help herself. She grabbed a few and muttered 'thanks' through a mouthful of cookie.

He took one himself when he put the tray back on the sideboard. They were very tasty cookies.

"Sorry you had to see the dysfunctional family in action," Anna whispered.

"Not a problem, Feisty Pants. It fits the definition of a dysfunctional family."

"What is it?" Anna was puzzled.

"A dysfunctional family is one that has more than one person in it." He tucked her arm under his own and gently wrapped his fingers around her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I would feel very blessed to be part of yours."

A very un-queenly snore broke the silence and Anna giggled. "You're welcome."


	7. Beware the Fury of a Patient Man

**Chapter 7 – **_"Beware the Fury of a Patient Man." _

"_It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." _**  
>― Gautama Buddha <strong>

"_The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows. Remember that." _**  
>― Richelle Mead, <strong>_**Vampire Academy **_

***** Estate of Baron Bjorn Thorstad, Kingdom of Arendelle – December 2, 1840 *****

"Thank you, Nils. You may leave us the cognac and cigars, and that will be all for this evening," Baron Thorstad dismissed his butler as he settled in before a roaring fire on a cold and stormy December night. It had been two weeks since the Royal Council meeting where Elsa had declared that Arendelle would repay the Duke of Weselton for his craven attack by bringing the wrath of the Snow Queen down on his poorly-toupeed head.

He lit a cigar, poured himself a drink and raised his glass to his companion, Monsieur Robin Sylvain Pierre. "Skal, Rob! This is some damn fine liquor you're importing to our tiny kingdom!"

His associate raised his own glass in return and said, "Ah, it warms me even more than your wonderful fire, Bjorn. My blood is used to the warm breezes of southern France, not the polar ice caps of your realm." He smiled at his own jest.

"So, are you done traveling for the season, Rob? The seas are harsh and dangerous now and will be for some months." Thorstad asked.

"Indeed. I was most uncomfortable on this return trip. I almost waited too late to return. Won't the fjords be freezing over soon?"

"Actually, they rarely freeze over completely. Late January and early February tend to be the worst and are very hard for merchant ships, so that is the slow period for trade. Everyone takes a deep breath, counts up their profits for the previous season, relaxes, and plans for the spring season."

"Hmm...then perhaps it is not too late for me to get one or two more shipments of spirits in. What better way to wet down one's decisions but with fine warming drinks around your roaring fires?" Pierre chuckled.

Thorstad had become colleagues and then friends with Pierre after meeting him while on a Continental holiday. They had struck up a conversation in a coffeehouse, discovered they were both merchants and traders, and struck a business deal to introduce Pierre's liquor imports to Arendelle. As the business thrived, so did their friendship. Thorstad found Pierre's sophisticated tastes and insightful political commentary quite engaging, his Gallic charm a welcome change from the stolid folkways of Arendelle. Thorstad fancied himself rather more worldly than his phlegmatic countrymen.

They sat in appreciative silence for a few moments, then Pierre commented, "Apparently your Navy has no qualms about sailing in this weather, eh? We were passed by several of their frigates as we sailed into the harbor five days ago."

"Yes, they are engaging in exercises to insure they can fight effectively in bad weather. It seems that our good Queen Elsa has decided to make a visit to the Duke of Weselton in the new year and explain to him personally why it is a very bad idea to make war on Arendelle. I've never seen her the way she was at the last council meeting. She's always been hard to read, but not this time; it was clear that there was a smoldering volcano underneath that stoic exterior," Thorstad explained. "I believe the duchy will be looking for new leadership once she's finished with them."

Pierre sipped appreciatively of his cognac. "I am so glad I missed the excitement in October. My associates who were here tell me it was quite - fraught – for a few days. Is it true that your Queen surrendered herself into Weselton captivity? That seems - rash."

"Yes, well, apparently it was the only way she could think of to create enough of a distraction to allow her sister to escape. Once Princess Anna was no longer a hostage, all hell broke loose," Thorstad snorted.

"A willing sacrifice for her sister? I thought at one time you believed her to be indifferent or hostile to her sister?" Pierre queried.

"It could have been taken that way; before her coronation she was such a recluse no one really knew her. The Council would see her for three hours once a month in a meeting with a strict agenda and almost no spontaneity. Perhaps a brief, scripted appearance in public for some other reason. The two women were never seen together, so it was a credible speculation that turned out to be quite wrong," admitted Thorstad.

"So, our idea that perhaps the exuberant, easily-influenced childish Princess could replace the skilled, competent Snow Queen was just a passing fancy?"

"Watching the Princess act as Regent these past weeks, it is clear to me that she is exuberant, but not childish. Apparently the King paid close attention to her upbringing as well, if not so very intensely as to the eldest daughter," Thorstad replied. "It was … surprising, indeed. Her style is quite different from her sister, and certainly she is less experienced, not as polished, but … incompetent? No."

Pierre digested this in silence, then said, "How fortunate for your kingdom that the Queen has an able Regent to serve when she is incapacitated."

"Indeed. And for now, the Princess remains the heir, so that if some unfortunate event befell the Queen, and her sister were to take the throne, Arendelle would stay in good hands."

"Not all kingdoms have such happy royal families," Pierre observed. "In many royal courts, the intrigue and scheming that goes on results in convenient deaths and unexpected changes in ruling monarchs. Are you certain that there are no hidden agendas on the part of the Princess? Perhaps a taste of power could result in a craving for more."

"I doubt it. She is quite open in her hero worship of the Queen."

"But the best cover for intrigue is an appearance of naive innocence. If the Princess is as clever as you say, it could be a cunning ruse, an act. What better way to get close enough to the Queen to slip the dagger into her ribs, eh? After all, there may be lingering resentment for all those years of neglect."

Thorstad shook his head and chuckled, "That is one of the most cynical things I have ever heard you say, Rob. You've been reading too much Machiavelli, it seems!"

Not at all chagrined by this comment, Pierre smiled and shrugged. "Look at all the convulsive chaos that has shaken the Continent over the last fifty years, Bjorn. Most of it began as internal strife then devolved into open warfare with surrounding realms, sweeping entire populations into the maelstrom. Much of it the very definition of 'blood' relatives." He smirked at his own wordplay.

"Arendelle is not one of those places, Rob. Our Royal Family, indeed our entire kingdom, has been stodgy, staid, and boring for centuries. Perhaps our Viking ancestors could mete out bloodshed and mayhem with enthusiasm, but this Queen is squeamish and weak-willed, still wedded to the concept of 'mercy' even if she has magic powers over ice and snow."

"_Yet she had the courage to go into a captivity that exposed her to the mercies of brutal, rapacious men and could have meant an ugly death for her,"_ was Pierre's unspoken thought. He sipped at his drink, then looked at his host. "As you say, mon ami. You are far more familiar with the history and culture of this picturesque realm. I am but a visitor, making observations as a stranger, an outsider."

The two men savored their drinks for a few minutes in silence before Pierre took up a different topic of discussion.

"So, Bjorn, how goes the negotiations with those kingdoms trading with Weselton? Is it true that Arendelle is insisting that any realm that wishes to remain in your good graces must renounce their ties to Weselton?" challenged Pierre.

"Yes. It was an approach that I had suggested to the Queen and the Council as a second prong to the strategy of repaying the Duke for his stab in our back. The Admiral has the military response well-planned; this will take even more resources away from Weselton. Impoverished, the Duke cannot hire any more mercenary fleets, nor can he build his Navy into a threat." Thorstad seemed smugly proud of himself.

"I confess I did not realize you were such a strategist, Rob. That is rather clever."

"Yes, and the negotiations with those kingdoms will allow the merchants of Arendelle to replace the trade that used to go to Weselton to the great profit of **this** kingdom."

"Really? I did not think that Arendelle and Weselton had many commodities in common. Your main exports are timber, fish, and ice. I thought that Weselton specialized in wheat and manufactured goods."

"You are correct, as far as it goes. However, our mines supplied much of the metal that Weselton used in the manufacturing of those goods. Since the Queen has declared that we are at war with Weselton, the licensing agreements that limited us from copying the methods used by Weselton are now null and void. We can set up manufactories to use those metal ores here instead of shipping them to another kingdom."

Pierre mulled this over, then purred, "And … if someone involved in these negotiations had already planned to set up such manufactories, he would be well-positioned to profit from this happy turn of events, n'est-ce pas ?"

Thorstad cleared his throat a bit, then said, "Why, of course not, Rob! That would be unethical and probably illegal." The Baron grimaced and lamented, "Our good Queen Elsa is an absolute stickler when it comes to peculation such as that. Look at what happened to our poor colleague Anders. He never recovered his dispassion after she humiliated him, and it led him into that treasonous plot with the Duke."

He took another sip of his drink and then continued in a casual tone, "No, that would never do. On the other hand, if some well-established and successful merchant were to seek out new opportunities for investment, opportunities in a completely new area of endeavor from his current line of trade, that would create no suspicion at all from Her Majesty's auditors." He cocked an eyebrow at Pierre and waited.

The only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire.

Finally, Pierre mused in a dry tone, "You make an excellent point, Rob. It certainly would be unfortunate if the Queen were to lose another member of her Council in the same way she lost our late colleague, Anders."

"Indeed."

"Bjorn, have I told you about an absolutely intriguing business opportunity that I have been considering?" Pierre said with a sly grin.

"Why, no, Rob, what might that be?" Thorstad was examining his drink as though seeking the wisdom of the ages in the golden liquor as he swirled his glass gently.

"I have long been considering expanding my investments into manufacturing. Your kingdom mines several metals that could be used, and setting up operations here would save transportation costs. I believe it would be very profitable, indeed."

Thorstad glanced at his friend with a thin smile. "I can only wish you well in your investments, Rob. Your acumen is well known, I'm sure you will have no problem soliciting other investors."

"I believe so, Bjorn. If you could recommend any … partners, I would be most appreciative of introductions to them."

"I'm sure I could make some contacts for you, Rob," Thorstad murmured. _"And if some of those contacts are a subterfuge for one of my own companies, no one's the wiser."_

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Some time later the fire had burned almost to embers and Pierre rose to take his leave.

"I thank you for your hospitality, Bjorn. May I invite you to my home for dinner one night next week?"

"That would be a delight, Rob. You know I appreciate your chef and the exquisite cuisine that he has brought to Arendelle."

Thorstad escorted his guest to the front door, where his butler waited with Pierre's winter cloak, hat and gloves.

It was a short walk to his own a very nice rented pied-à-terre, as he called it, in the well-to-do quarter of the town. It was spacious and comfortable, and he shared it with two of his top level subordinates. Since his business required him to travel extensively, it made sense to have a shared residence. As he shivered in his woolen cloak he reflected that he was glad that it was only a short walk. Arendelle's weather at this time of year was something that could only be appreciated by those born here.

When he got to his town home and his butler relieved him of his outerwear, he was glad to see that a roaring fire was still blazing in the fireplace of his study. His two compatriots were sitting before it, glasses of cognac in hand. They had thoughtfully poured one for him, and he raised his glass to them in a grateful salute as he sank into the plush cushions of his armchair.

"So, Rob, what news do you bring tonight?" asked one, who used the name Louis Antoine de Saint-Just. He was in his fifties, with graying hair and a small goatee. Louis was Pierre's business manager in Arendelle and was responsible for all of his myriad trading and warehousing operations in the kingdom.

The other man in the room was younger, perhaps 25 or 30. He was known in Arendelle as Georges Auguste Couthon, Marquis d'La Montagne, and Pierre would introduce him as a young protege being groomed for more responsibility. He was of above average height, clean-shaven and blond-haired. He had the manner of a well-bred young man of gentle upbringing.

"Well, it may be, mes amis, that a bright new business opportunity is opening before us," Pierre replied. "In fact, Georges, it may be the perfect opportunity for you to show us your mettle as an entrepreneur."

"I would look forward to such a prospect, Rob. I have studied long under your excellent tutelage and would like to spread my wings on my own."

Pierre explained the changes in Arendelle's trade relationships with its many trading partners to the two men, and they discussed how best to take advantage of the opening this gave them to expand their enterprise. Saint-Just eventually got around to discussing a different topic.

"Rob, the Queen, this desire of hers to take revenge on the Duke, to personally go to Weselton and wreak havoc and bring down _Ragnarök_ on the little weasel's head seems somewhat out of character for a young woman who until a few months ago was rarely seen outside her own bedroom."

"It is, Georges. But I think it is indicative of the trauma she experienced during her vile captivity. Moreover, I don't think the locals understand her behavior and what it may portend."

Couthon raised an eyebrow and asked, "Really, Rob? Why do you think so?"

Pierre stared into the fire and brooded for a moment before answering, "Because, my young friend, there has not been a war involving this kingdom for almost two hundred years. Their military engages in anti-piracy actions, mere skirmishes and usually one-sided skirmishes at that."

"So?"

"So, like you, they have very little experience with the wounds of war that cannot be seen. They do not understand how the inner scars do not heal as quickly as those that can be bandaged and salved. Their Queen is damaged inside, where her bleeding cannot be seen. I doubt that she understands her own feelings in this matter."

Couthon said nothing. He knew that the two older men had grown up during the Reign of Terror that had convulsed France, and that his own experience had indeed been bereft of any exposure to the bloodshed and destruction such a war could inflict on people.

Eventually Georges looked to his colleague and said, "Rob, is there some way perhaps we could … take advantage of this injured Queen?"

"Perhaps, mon ami. I need to think on this for a few days and see if there is some way to turn this to serve our greater purpose. Perhaps a fragile and wounded monarch can be pushed into actions that would discredit her and open the door to … alternate forms of governance."

"Vive la révolution!" Georges raised his glass and drained it.

"Vive la révolution!" answered the other two men.


	8. Another Arrow In The Quiver

**Chapter 8 – Another Arrow In The Quiver**

"_Always take the most unexpected route" _  
><strong>― Jennifer Estep, <strong>_**Widow's Web **_

"_Clean hands, Sansa. Whatever you do, make certain your hands are clean." _**  
>― George R.R. Martin, <strong>_**A Storm of Swords **_

***** Ducal Palace, Duchy of Weselton, December 15, 1840 *****

"Your Grace, if Arendelle attacks us with their oldest ships crewed by their newest recruits, we can't stop them. If SHE comes along with the elite squadrons of her Navy you may as well hang the white flags at the harbor entrance and save us the trouble of cleaning up the wreckage."

The Duke of Weselton's face grew red as he pounded his fist on the table. "Maybe I ought to hang YOU at the harbor entrance, as a warning to any fool who thinks he's an Admiral that dares tell me to surrender like a craven weakling!"

One does not rise to the rank of Admiral in even a poorly-run navy without some courage. "Your Grace, it is your prerogative to do whatever you wish. You can have my resignation or my head if you want it. That will not change the reality when Arendelle comes sailing into your harbor with guns blazing and the Snow Queen in a rage."

The Duke sat back in his chair at the head of the table and fumed. He had called together his military advisers to review the latest dispatches from their agents in Arendelle. There wasn't much in them that wasn't public knowledge and published in the little kingdom's newspaper; apparently Admiral Naismith had learned the concept of 'operational security' after the attack in October, and swiftly clamped down on casual gossip about military matters by the forces under his command. Sailors still got drunk in bars, but their officers at least stopped talking about strategy and tactics where the wrong ears might hear them.

"What DO you suggest, then, Admiral?" The Duke ground out through clenched teeth.

"Frankly, I don't have any suggestions that would help from a military aspect. No, the solution to our problem is not to be found in weapons of war."

"What's left?" asked the Duke.

"Your specialty, Your Grace. Political maneuvering. We've made a good start on that with our version of what happened in Arendelle. When the other kingdoms came to us to reduce trade, we made it clear to them that the evil Snow Queen would eventually attack them, too. Just like she destroyed our 'merchant convoy'. Some of them are even gullible enough to believe it. The same approach with our own people has helped cut down on some of the unrest that pig Rödräv has been stirring up. All that needs to continue."

The Duke pushed back his chair, stood up and began to pace around the conference table. "That's all well and good, but it still won't stop her from coming here and destroying us. Fat lot of good it will do me to ruin her reputation if I'm dead!"

He stopped pacing and turned to his advisers and shouted, "Get out. Go! This is useless. You're useless. If you can't think of a way to stop Arendelle, at least go hunt down that traitor fomenting revolution! Out!"

The men beat a hasty exit. The Duke began pacing again. It occurred to him that there was one other approach that might work. He sat at his desk and began to write.

Three days later his butler came to him and announced, "Your Grace, you have a visitor. He states his name is Jón Grár."

The Duke looked up from the report he was reading and replied, "Very well, bring him here. Give me five minutes."

He sat up in his desk chair, a chair cleverly raised on a pedestal to give him a height advantage to intimidate supplicants who came to speak to him. A discreet knock at the door and his butler's voice announcing, "Your Grace? Herr Grár."

Herr Grár was a nondescript individual, dressed in unremarkable garb such as any ordinary middle class citizen of the Duchy of Weselton might wear. The colors were muted and would blend easily into a crowd. A face with no distinguishing characteristics looked blandly at the Duke. Brownish hair and brownish eyes completed the picture. If anyone were asked to describe this person, it would sound like the description of a thousand men of the Duchy. The ability to blend into the crowd was his stock in trade.

"Your Grace, thank you for making time for me today," said the visitor with a courtly bow of respect. If the smile on his face could be described as more 'acerbic' than 'respectful', that was a matter of opinion.

"It took you long enough," snarled the Duke as he gestured at his guest to seat himself. "I had expected you to jump at another job."

"Why, Your Grace, did you think that the address I had given you was my actual place of business? I would not long survive if I were that easy to find." Herr Grár waved airily. "No, my mail takes a rather roundabout way to find me. I apologize if the delay was an annoyance." He went on, "May I ask what matter vexes you so that I might be a solution?"

"One thing that I'd hire you for is to deal with Rödräv once and for all," fumed the little man.

His visitor shook his head. "It is with regret that I must turn down that commission, Your Grace. Rödräv is as unknown to me as he is to you. The reward you have offered for his head should have flushed him by now. That it has not bodes ill for you indeed."

"So, if you can't find me that pest, what else do you think I might have in mind?"

Grár looked to the ceiling and put on a thoughtful air. "It seems all the news in the town is filled with doom and gloom about the impending invasion of the invincible Snow Queen, enraged and looking to wreak her vengeance upon you. Or is it her rage at her own perfidy for destroying your perfectly innocent merchant convoy? I lose track of the stories, sometime." He tapped his lips while staring over the Duke's head. "Yet, by all accounts, she is just a young woman, as vulnerable as you or I to a bullet or cross-bow bolt."

"Indeed, and if those two idiots I sent after her had done their jobs last July – "

"If they had done what you had sent them to do, it is likely you would still be buried under the miles of snow that would have entombed Arendelle if she hadn't brought back summer. Now, however, there are no howling blizzards that need to be contained, and thus may her death be brought about rather more … safely," he purred.

The Duke drummed his fingertips on his desk as he considered this. "I can count on your discretion? There must be no hint that I have anything to do with this!"

An impish grin was the response, then, "My discretion, Your Grace? Surely my past commissions serve as recommendations of my discretion in disguising a death as appearing innocent and natural. For example, your late business associate, Mr. Reinertsen?"

"Splattering one's brains all over the ceiling is hardly natural. And a confession of treason hardly innocent." scoffed the Duke.

"Your Grace, every word of that note was the absolute truth; he DID commit treason against Arendelle, did he not? The only … inaccurate words in his missive was the part about it being **his** choice to face a higher justice than Her Majesty Elsa of Arendelle."

The Duke looked thoughtful for a moment as he considered this. "It would certainly be convenient if she committed suicide. Think you could make it look like that?"

"Seriously, Your Grace? No, I'm afraid not." his guest snorted. "I am skilled, but I am no miracle worker. Slipping into Reinertsen's manor and staging that scene was straightforward. Elsa of Arendelle lives in a well-secured castle surrounded by humorless guards who have amply demonstrated their willingness to die without hesitation to save her. For that matter, what reason would she have to kill herself? By all accounts, she is secure on her throne and happily reunited with her sister. No, I'm afraid this assassination will perforce look exactly like what it is. But I can assure you that YOU will not be splashed with her blood."

"Who then?" demanded the Duke.

"Do you care? You're not her only enemy, you know. Be assured that Weselton will not be blamed and be satisfied with that."

The Duke fidgeted. His guest sat with the ease of a man with a clear conscience, relaxed and waiting for the Duke to make the only decision he could.

"Very well. What's your price?"

His guest named the sum and was greeted with a howl of, "Robbery! Completely out of the question!"

"Your Grace, compared to what it will cost you once she sails into your harbor, my fee is but a trifle. Considering who the target is, no one else would take the commission at any price. They all consider her unreachable. In truth, it is less than the cost of your debacle of a 'trade fleet'. You should have considered hiring me first. I am your only alternative to complete disaster now."

"There was a chance of great riches with the 'trade fleet'; this investment returns nothing but the satisfaction of knowing she is dead. IF she dies. What makes you so convinced that she is vulnerable to you? As you just pointed out, she is surrounded by guards at all times," the Duke challenged him.

"Ah, Your Grace, my methods are my stock in trade. If I shared them with every client, I would soon be out of business. I will promise you this; if I fail, and I will not fail, your deposit will be returned to you. You have my word on it."

The Duke frowned as he considered the offer. The word of a professional killer? Yet, what other alternative did he have? "I have no choice but accept. Half now to your local account, half when I hear the news of the sad passing of the Queen of Arendelle," snarled the Duke. "Go. I'll wait for news of your success with great anticipation."

His guest rose, bowed politely, and left the study. He was already planning the voyage to Arendelle. Speed was of the essence; no one was sure when she would come to Weselton, the only sure thing was that it would be after Jul. Just enough time to get there and set it up. How unfortunate the seas were so rough at this time of year.

Still brooding after Grár's departure, the Duke of Weselton considered whether there was anything else he could do to ensure that the Queen of Arendelle would never find peace, save that of the grave. His eyes drifted across his desk and picked out a letter he had received the day before. His first inclination had been to throw it out with the rest of his trash. Now he was glad that he hadn't. Yes, there was at least one more arrow in his quiver.

He pulled out a fresh quill, dipped it in the ink-pot and began to write.


	9. Glad Tidings of Comfort and Joy

**Chapter 9 – Glad Tidings of Comfort and Joy**

**Author's Note: **This chapter is pure fluff and a teensy bit of character development. I researched Scandinavian Christmas customs and tried to sift out any anachronisms. But it seemed to me that our Queen and Princess needed at least one respite from all the angst and deserved a holiday from the pressure and woe of governing a kingdom. It will be the last happy time for quite a while, I'm afraid.

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"_Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." _  
><strong>― Laura Ingalls Wilder <strong>

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It was "Little Christmas Eve", December 23rd, and Anna was running from one room of the castle to another, directing the servants who were putting up the Christmas decorations. This would be the first Jul since Elsa's coronation, the first time in 13 years that it would be a truly joyous Christmas, and Anna was trying so hard to make it perfect that Kristoff was worried that she would collapse in a pile of mistletoe and fir boughs before midnight.

"Hey, Feisty Pants, slow down! Everything is looking absolutely wonderful, the servants are more enthused about this than you are, if that's even possible!" Kristoff was talking to Anna's ankles, as she was on a ladder trying to hang even more garlands of holly above the fireplace in the Great Room. She was too impatient to wait for Gerda or one of the other servants to help her.

She stretched just a hair too far, overbalanced, and landed in Kristoff's arms, the garland draping itself on them as it fell off the pegs she was trying to hang it on.

Kristoff huffed as he found himself holding an armful of beautiful princess, red-faced and disheveled from her exertions.

She looked up at him and giggled, "Another crazy trust exercise, hey?"

He carefully put her down, then gently unwound the garland from her shoulders. "I'll always be there to catch you, Feisty Pants," and he leaned down to give her a chaste peck on the cheek.

Anna had other ideas, though. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a more passionate kiss than he was expecting. He responded by dropping the garland and carefully, so gently pulling her closer, leaning into the kiss with enthusiasm.

There was no telling how long this would have gone on had Olaf not come bouncing into the room and announced, "Hey, Anna, Gerda wants to know how many more garlands we're going to need!"

Kristoff and Anna drew apart a little sheepishly. At least it hadn't been Elsa looking for her sister. That had happened once recently and it wasn't clear which of the three of them had been more embarrassed. Kristoff noticed that since then Elsa made a point of being rather more … noisy … walking through the castle than he remembered her ever being before the 'incident'.

"Thanks, Olaf," Anna responded to the little snowlem while continuing to look into Kristoff's eyes, desire clear in her own. _"Later!"_ she mouthed at him, and winked.

Kristoff felt the heat of his own desire rising, and thought of cold water with large blocks of ice floating in it. _"Snow Queen, garden statue, pigeons,"_ he muttered soundlessly as he tried to regain his composure.

He followed Anna out of the room to finish the decorating, wondering how many places she had hung mistletoe around the palace. His self-control had limits and he recognized thin ice when he saw it.

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"Come on, sleepyhead, wake up, wake up, wake up! Gledelig Jul!"

Someone was shaking Anna, trying to get her to wake up. A bleary eye looked out from under the blanket; the room was dim with the feeble light of a late December sunrise. It was almost 9 o'clock, but that was still an early rising for Anna. She burrowed deeper into the blankets and muttered, "'m asleep. Go 'way..."

Elsa shook her head and smirked; she hated to use drastic measures, but needs must. Elsa peeled the blanket back from her sister's head and flexed her hand. The resulting snow down the neck of Anna's nightgown got the desired result as Anna shrieked and levitated out of the bed, landing sprawled on the floor with a thump. Elsa's giggles didn't improve Anna's mood until she remembered what day it was.

"It's Christmas!" she whooped as she jumped up, grabbed Elsa's hands in her own and swung her around joyously. "Gledelig Jul, Elsa!"

Elsa laughed with equal delight. It had been many long years since she had last woken Anna up on Christmas morning. She managed to stop Anna from swinging her around again, then hugged her tightly in her arms. "Oh, Anna, I … I love you so much."

Anna leaned into the hug with her own embrace, tears welling in her eyes as she felt Elsa's heart beating against her own. "I love you, too, honey. I'll never stop loving you."

The two women drew apart, sniffling and trying to wipe their cheeks inconspicuously. Elsa grinned and pointed, "Look, Anna!"

Anna squealed with glee. There, hanging on the mantle of the room's fireplace, was a stocking stuffed with candy. "Oh how wonderful! Did you get one, too?" Anna was already popping a piece of marzipan into her mouth, muffling her words.

Elsa giggled again, "Of course! You're not the only overgrown child in this castle you know!" Elsa drew herself up in a caricature of her 'I'm the Queen!' pose and sniffed, "Queen's privilege!" and then dissolved into more laughter.

Anna grinned, then grabbed the robe laying on the chair next to her bed and threw it on. "Come on, a quick breakfast, then final preparations for tonight!"

They left, arm in arm, laughing together on Christmas for the first time in forever.

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They had a late lunch, with the risengrynsgrøt (rice porridge) generously flavored with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Kristoff found the almond in his, and was given the pink marzipan pig as his reward. They were eating in the small family dining room. Dinner would be a formal affair, with all the trappings and place settings that hadn't been used even at Elsa's Coronation.

Kristoff worried a little about dinner; he would be dressed in his finest clothes and it would be the first time he would share table with Elsa and Anna in such a formal setting. The dinners he had been invited to before this were more family-style, with very little excess ceremony. Careful observation had let him figure out the correct fork to use and he gradually became more comfortable in Elsa's presence. Today would be harder, but … he had a surprise for the two women. He hoped.

There was another Julaften tradition that the sisters would share today …

The setting sun was just peeking through the low afternoon clouds. The twilight seemed appropriate as the Queen and the Princess stood before the two gray stones looming before them. They each held a lit candle, Elsa in her left hand, Anna in her right. They were holding hands as they stepped forward and placed the candles in front of the cenotaphs of their parents.

Elsa leaned forward to touch her forehead to her father's stone. "Oh, papa!" she whispered, "I miss you and mama so. I'm sorry this is the first time I've come here for this."

Anna's tears ran freely down her cheeks as she watched Elsa. Her own heart had ached the three times she had come here by herself to place the candles. She still missed her parents, but now she had her sister back, and the shared grief was lessened by their shared love.

"Oh, Elsa, they would be so proud of you," Anna tried to soothe her sister. She tugged gently on Elsa's hand, "They know you would have come if you could have. If anyone would understand, it would be them."

Elsa wrapped her arm around Anna's waist and leaned into her sister, seeking her support. "I know, but ..."

"No buts! Remember what we promised each other when we came here after the Thaw – we forgave them, and we forgive ourselves. Dwelling on all the mistakes we all made is useless – we learn, and we move on. Right?" Anna hugged Elsa closer.

"You're right. I know you're right, and I won't spoil Jul for you," Elsa sighed.

"You won't spoil Jul for either of us. We've honored our parents, we've told them we love them and miss them, and now we're going back down to Arendelle for dinner and presents and everything else you've missed for all those years, understand?" Anna shook Elsa's arm a little for emphasis.

Elsa finally smiled; Anna's bubbly personality couldn't be denied for long when she was like this. And in truth, Elsa was looking forward to the traditional dinner and tree and presents with the same giddiness she remembered from when she was little.

With a last nod to the stones, the two sisters went arm and arm down the hill and back to the castle.

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Elsa and Anna went to church when they got back. It was a tradition to do so before dinner on Julaften. Bishop Norgaard greeted them as they entered as if they were just two more of his flock. Elsa appreciated that; she did not come to church often, but when she did it was as a humble young woman seeking spiritual comfort, not as a Queen looking for deference or adulation.

There was a steady flow of worshipers coming and going through the church, and no one intruded on the privacy of the two sisters. Like the Bishop, the people of Arendelle gave Elsa the gift of solitude today.

The two of them sat in solemn prayer for a short while, then slipped out as inconspicuously as they could.

When they got back inside the castle, it was after four and Christmas Eve dinner was scheduled for 5 p.m.

"Anna, we need to hurry and change for dinner! Are you sure Kristoff will be there and in his best attire?" Elsa was more worried about Anna being punctual, but she had to ask.

"Oh, sure, he'll be there and all dressed up! Don't worry!" Anna brushed off Elsa's concern with blithe confidence, but inside she had a few qualms of her own. Since the beginning of their official courtship, Anna had tried to tactfully offer Kristoff lessons in etiquette and protocol. If their courtship progressed to an engagement and then marriage, he would need those skills.

Just as tactfully, Kristoff had turned her down with the excuse that he had plenty of time for that stuff and there was no point in rushing things. So far she hadn't had any reason to complain about his comportment, but this would be the first really formal event he would attend.

Today's dinner would be just the three of them, but it would have all the formal trappings that a royal dinner could have. Elsa hadn't wanted to deal with the stress of guests, but she did want this to be memorable for her and Anna. It was their first Christmas dinner in a very long time, and she wanted it to be special.

As she changed into her evening dress, Anna fretted that Kristoff would stab himself with the fish fork or something even worse and embarrass himself in front of Elsa. Besides turning down etiquette lessons, he gently deflected any suggestions that she help him acquire a new wardrobe. She had no idea what he would wear tonight, although he had assured her he knew how to dress for these occasions.

Anna finished pinning the ribbons into her hair, then ran through the halls to the dining room.

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Anna found Elsa standing in the hall outside the small dining room having a conversation with Kai about something. A rueful head-shake greeted her as she almost skidded into her sister, but Elsa smiled indulgently as she reached to steady Anna.

"Gledelig Jul, min kjære søster!" Elsa couldn't stop the silly smile curling the corners of her mouth, nor could she stop from reaching out to embrace Anna and give her a peck on the cheek. There were days when her soul was dark with fear and worry, but today wasn't one of them.

Anna hugged her back, then untangled herself and gave Elsa a graceful curtsy while replying, "Gledelig Jul, min vakre modig søster!" She was the very picture of sophisticated grace, until she straightened up and burst into giggles.

As they stood there the church bells began to ring; it was five o'clock, the traditional time for Christmas dinner. Elsa took a breath to ask Anna where Kristoff was when he walked around the corner to join them, on the last peal of the bell marking the time.

Elsa, being the Queen, was schooled in concealing startlement; Anna had the same schooling, but often forgot it at times. This was one of those times.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, Gledelig Jul!" Kristoff said as he bowed gallantly to the two women. He was smiling, although Elsa thought she could detect a hint of insecurity, as though he were expecting … rejection?

He was dressed in elaborate finery; his boots were polished reindeer hide, although they still had the curled-up toes like his work boots. These had silver medallions on the ankles. The pants tucked into the boots were a fine black wool. His thigh-length tunic was predominately the green of Arendelle, but there was a wide purple and gold trim at the hem and on the cuffs of the sleeves. Anna could see the collar of a fine cream colored linen shirt through the collar of the tunic, and a gold-hued silk scarf was tied around Kristoff's neck. It was not anything like what Anna or Elsa thought that he would wear, but it was clearly of the highest quality workmanship and materials.

Straightening to stand tall, he said to Anna, "Your Highness, may I escort you in to dinner?"

Anna was standing in a most un-princesslike pose, her mouth hanging open in an unabashed gawk. His request finally penetrated her addled brain and she closed her mouth with an audible click, then blushed at her own gaucherie. "We may. I mean, you may. Oh, drat … " she took his proffered arm and looked to Elsa. As Queen, she would enter the dining room first and they would follow her.

Elsa nodded to Kai, who opened the dining room doors for the little party. She entered the room with her usual elegance, followed by Kristoff and Anna.

The table was set for three, with Elsa seated at the head of the table and two more place settings, one to her right and one to her left. As Princess, Anna would sit to Elsa's right, and Kristoff would be across the table from her.

Once Kai had held Elsa's chair for her to be seated, Kristoff held Anna's chair for her, then went around the table to his own place.

There was a somewhat … fraught … silence, then Elsa spoke. She was the hostess, after all, and she wanted her guest to feel comfortable.

"Kristoff, may I compliment you on your finery this evening? You look very handsome."

He flushed slightly and replied, "Your Majesty, if I may, the beauty of the Queen of Arendelle and her sister is incomparable. I could only hope to do honor to your table by doing my humble best to match their elegance." He knew he sounded stilted, but he wanted to be … worthy of Anna. He needed to learn how to do this properly.

"Please, Kristoff. That will be quite enough of 'Your Majesty' out of you! 'Elsa' is my name, and I command you to use it," Elsa was teasing him, but she really did want him to treat her as family-to-hopefully-be. She reached for her napkin to start the meal.

Elsa was watching closely, if unobtrusively, as Kristoff took his own napkin from the table, unfolded it and laid it in his lap precisely according to protocol. Elsa had to suppress a snort; Anna often didn't bother to pay such close attention to the details of formal dining.

As the meal progressed, Anna had regained her usual giddy persona and everyone relaxed into the warm glow of family at Christmas dinner. Kristoff continued to show that he knew exactly which fork, spoon or knife to use. Elsa could tell he was concentrating on what he was doing, but he was doing it perfectly. She wondered how he had learned to navigate his way through the utensils and place settings.

They were finishing desert, a dish of leftover porridge from lunch mixed with whipped cream, called riskrem, accompanied by warm spicy gløgg. Elsa sipped at her drink, then asked, "Are we all done? Ready for the rest of the evening?"

Kristoff rose to help Elsa and then Anna from their chair, then offered Anna his arm again and they followed Elsa into the hall leading to the Great Room where the tree and presents were waiting.

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It was well after midnight and Christmas Day would be busy. There would be a bonfire in the courtyard as Elsa hosted an open house for the people of Arendelle. The carolers would be coming and going all day as the townspeople circulated to visit friends and family. The castle kitchen had baked mounds of _pepperkake _gingerbread cookies and there would be gløgg, _Juleøl_ beer and akvavit to toast the day. Elsa really needed to get some sleep, tomorrow would be a long day of hospitality.

Elsa had slipped into bed and was dozing off when she heard the door to her bedroom creak open and soft footsteps on the rug, then felt the bed shift as Anna slipped under the covers. She smiled and snuggled into her sister's embrace.

"Aren't you exhausted yet, honey?" Elsa murmured.

"Pretty much, but I wasn't going to let you miss out on any time with me tonight. I loved the whole day, thank you for everything."

Elsa could feel her sister's grin against her ear, even if she couldn't see it. She whispered, "I never want to miss out on time with you again. I had missed this so much during all the time we were apart. I wanted this year to make up for all of that loneliness."

"It did, it was perfect. And full of surprises. You're not the only stinker I have to deal with, it seems!" Anna giggled.

"Umm?" Elsa made a little noise of inquiry, wondering what Anna was talking about.

"Kristoff! He had pushed off any suggestions that he needed my help dealing with protocol and etiquette, and then he shows up in those beautiful clothes and acts like he knows more about the fish knife than I do!"

Elsa rolled over to face her sister and pushed herself up on one elbow. "I'll slide right by the chance to nag you yet again on your table manners and agree that he was perfect. So how **did** he manage it?"

Anna sat up and waved her arms as she exclaimed, "He has been working with Kai for the last couple of months! He says he talked to him about it even before the Weselton thing. Kai was thrilled for his own reasons. Seems like hiring all those new servants to build up the staff was causing Kai to tear his hair out training them and Kristoff was a perfect practice subject; they wouldn't be as nervous around him. And if they spilled soup or wine on him, they wouldn't be as mortified as if they were training on you or me. And Kristoff got to rehearse all the fine points over and over, and listen to Kai repeatedly explain it to the new staff in detail. Win-win, he called it."

Laying back down, Elsa chuckled and said, "That **was** killing two birds with one stone, wasn't it?"

An answering chuckle from Anna as she said, "Well, he's not the perfect prince yet. He still can't dance worth a hoot! My toes can attest to that! And he weighs a lot more than that little snot from Weaseltown! At least he doesn't wear heels."

Elsa smiled at her sister's description of the loathsome Duke. At her coronation the sight of him dancing, _'__Like a chicken...with the face of a monkey'_, toupee flopping, had been very funny. She was sure Kristoff had much more potential.

"Kristoff had a lot going on with his harvesting, the guild, and taking etiquette lessons from Kai, there probably wasn't time to fit in dancing. Look at it this way: he needs a partner to learn how to dance, and if he tries to do that with any partner but you, I'm sure you'll let him know he'll be sleeping out in the stables again."

Anna put her head on Elsa's shoulder and wrapped her arm around her and said, "Yeah, but he could have warned me about tonight!"

"I think he may have felt it was his turn to exasperate you for a change, honey."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anna yawned and started to doze off.

"Nothing, Anna, nothing at all." Elsa kissed her tenderly and fell into a warm slumber herself.

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**To save you all the trouble of checking google translate:**

"Gledelig Jul, min kjære søster!" is "Merry Christmas, my dear sister"

"Gledelig Jul, min vakre modig søster!" is "Merry Christmas, my beautiful, brave sister"

Anna still (and always will have) has a case of hero-worship for Elsa, especially after the events of _"Worthy Queen". _She says it a little teasingly, but she means it.

In case you are wondering, Kristoff was dressed in traditional Sami garb. I'm terrible at describing clothing, but I found a picture on the Disney Wiki or someplace that was a concept art drawing of Kristoff in his finery. I changed the color scheme a little, but he looks good in it! The pic is on my tumblr, by request.

Okay, that's the last of the fluffy goodness, folks. The reindeer poop will be hitting the fan from here on.


	10. Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears a Crown

**Chapter 10 – Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears a Crown**

"_If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child."_**  
>― Linda Sunshine <strong>

"_If you shoot at a king you must kill him."_  
><strong>– Ralph Waldo Emerson <strong>

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Christmas had come and gone, and the January doldrums had set in.

Kristoff wasn't going off to the mountains to harvest ice, but he was busy for long hours of the day as the formalities for setting up the Ice Harvesters' Guild came to a peak. Elections for the guild offices were coming up in two weeks, and although Kristoff was too modest to campaign for the job, it looked like his friends and colleagues were going to elect him as the Guild Master. Which would be more work. Which meant Anna would see even less of him than she had in the last month.

Elsa was busy working out the details of the Weselton attack with the Admiral and his staff and too immersed in the diplomacy issues surrounding that to have time for much else. She tried to keep Anna in the middle of the preparations for the expedition to Weselton, but Anna was still pushing back on the 'Elsa is going to Weaselton with the Navy' concept.

"No, Elsa, I still think that you could just send Admiral Naismith and the Navy to deal with that little weasel. YOU do not need to go there and personally beat the snow out of him!" Anna was trying to keep her voice at a reasonable volume level, but it was hard.

They were in Elsa's study. Anna had fallen into the routine of at least trying to stay current on the correspondence crossing Elsa's desk, since she would have to act as Regent again while Elsa was off dealing with Weselton. Anna paced back and forth in front of the window while Elsa looked at her in dismay. This conversation had taken place too many times in the last month and they were still no closer to agreement on the topic.

"Anna, you're overlooking one key fact here, one thing that actually makes it reasonable for me to go along," Elsa tried once again to persuade her sister. She had one last point to make that she hoped would get through Anna's stubborn intransigence.

Her sister plopped into a side chair, slumped down in a most un-princess-like fashion, crossed her arms and huffed, "Yeah? Okay, convince me."

There was a bleak melancholy in Elsa's glance at Anna. "My magic doesn't kill anybody if I don't want it to. I can't say that about the cannons and muskets of the Navy."

Anna exhaled sharply as her sister's words sunk in. She really hadn't thought of that; she had been so focused on Elsa's magic being used for destruction that she had forgotten that Elsa controlled her magic precisely now. Since bringing back summer, Elsa's magic did exactly what she wanted it to, no more, no less. She could kill someone with it, but if she did, it would be because Elsa wanted that someone dead. And so far, at least, the Queen had made it clear that killing was something she defined as an absolute last resort, to be used only if there was no other way, and even then only in self-defense.

"You're … right. I hadn't really thought of that," Anna reluctantly admitted.

Elsa got up to pace this time. "And, there's the 'scary Ice Queen' factor, too. If they run away without firing a shot, so much the better. That wouldn't happen if the Arendelle Navy sailed into the Weselton harbor without me. The Duke may have shortchanged his navy of funds, but I doubt that his men are cowards. They'll be fighting to defend their homes, so they would fight even if it looked hopeless. Unless it was against something like … me. Something magical, something that mortal men can't defeat and where running away wouldn't shame them."

Still slumped in the chair, Anna said, "But what makes you think his men fear you that much? I mean, it sounds good, but ..."

"We can thank the Duke for that. Colonel Nordholm's latest report includes a lot of the wild stories the Duke is feeding his people. In his quest to use me as a fairy tale to prop up his own rule, he's managed to create a larger-than-life ogre that we think will work against him when we actually show up." She stopped in front of the window and stood wringing her hands as she looked out over the frozen-over fjord and said pensively, "He's created a monster, and it's name is Elsa of Arendelle."

She turned and sat down at her desk again. Anna noticed that Elsa had clasped her hands and pulled them into her lap where they couldn't be seen. They were probably trembling. Anna knew it was something that Elsa couldn't control, and it happened every time she mentioned the battle in the courtyard when she had come so close to dying. At least she didn't fall into a panic attack at the bare mention of the fight anymore.

Anna reached out to touch Elsa lightly on the shoulder, hoping to soothe her fear and reassure her of her support. "You're not a monster, Elsa, no matter what reindeer poop the Duke tries to spread about you. You're my sister, who I love and admire, not someone I'd think of as a monster. So, I can't see you like the Weasels do. Doesn't change the fact that I'll be scared witless for you the whole time you're gone."

"I know you will. And I'm not going to tell you not to worry. I'm scared, too. I've seen close up what musket balls and cold steel can do. I've seen the chaos of battle, and I know how life or death can turn on a whim of fate. Worse, I'm frightened not just for my own life, but for all the lives that could be destroyed if I don't handle this properly." Elsa leaned back in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut. "Papa didn't train me for **this**. Arendelle hasn't fought a war in more than two hundred years. Even the Navy is sailing into uncharted waters."

They sat in glum silence for long minutes, until Anna finally couldn't stand being cooped up inside another minute.

"I'm tired of reading dispatches and reports about who's mad at us this week. Let's go into town. The sun is actually out today and I feel like the walls of this castle are squeezing my brains into mush." Anna jumped up out of the chair and grabbed Elsa's hand, dragging her toward the door.

"Anna, I have too much to do!" protested the Queen.

"And guess what? It'll all still be here when we get back, more's the pity. Besides, today's the first Monday of the month, and it's our regular 'go into town and mingle with the people' day. Or had you forgotten that?" retorted Anna.

Elsa **had** forgotten that in the heat of the discussion. It was something she had started doing after the Great Thaw – going into town and spending the day being available to anyone who wanted to talk to her. It had been hard the first month or two, when she still wasn't totally comfortable with people after so long in isolation. But she got better at it. The only month she had missed was November, and that was because she was still recovering from her wounds.

"You're right. Go get your heavy cloak and hat, though. It's still cold even if the sun is out. I'll meet you in the entryway," Elsa gave Anna a little push to get her on her way, then headed for the castle's front doorway. She sent the guard off to tell Captain Gunnarsson where she was going, and that Anna would be accompanying her. She knew he would come along and bring a guard detail with him.

Elsa hated the need for guards any time she or Anna left the protection of the castle, but Arendelle – no – **she** had enemies, and they had already demonstrated a ruthless disregard for human life in their quest to kill or injure her. And their willingness to strike at her through Anna.

She didn't have to wait long for Anna. She ran up, huffing and puffing while tying on her cloak. Elsa giggled as she reached out to straighten her woolen cap, which had somehow gotten turned around the wrong way.

"Thanks," muttered Anna as she pulled on her mittens. "Ready? I promise to buy the hot chocolate today!"

Elsa smiled and took her arm and they headed across the courtyard for the walk into the marketplace. They were almost to the now empty, snow-covered flower stand when Anna stumbled. She had been waving her arms describing the latest Sven-Olaf adventure, acting out something Olaf had done. Since HER body didn't conveniently come apart to be easily reassembled, her cloak tangled in her legs and she tripped, taking Elsa down with her as her sister tried to catch her.

Which meant that the bullet that caused a loud 'crack!' to split the air, that ricocheted off the cobblestones and sent sharp fragments of stone and metal into the legs of the guardsmen and Anna, then embedded itself in the door post of a nearby house, didn't kill the Queen as it had been intended to do.

"Protect the Queen!" screamed Eric as he looked up at the surrounding rooftops, seeking the assassin.

Two of the guardsmen threw themselves onto the Queen and her sister, protecting them from a possible second shot with their own bodies, ignoring the pain and the blood staining their trousers from the shrapnel. The others formed a tight circle surrounding the four bodies on the ground, rifles at the ready, eyes flashing from house to house, rooftop to rooftop, alert for another attempt.

Nothing. There was no sign of a gun or a gunman. The sound of the gunshot had echoed off the high hills surrounding the harbor so it was hard to decide which direction it had come from. Eric couldn't be sure if he saw a puff of gun smoke rising from a distant roof across the harbor or if it was just a swirl of wood-smoke from the chimney of the house.

"Sergeant, we need to get the Queen and the Princess inside NOW! Check out that shop!" Eric commanded one of the men as he pointed to the closest doorway with his sword.

Jorgensen ran inside, then came back to the door and shouted, "All clear, sir!"

Dignity and decorum left behind in the name of urgency, Elsa and Anna found themselves pulled to their feet and hustled inside the shop. Eric and three of the men followed them inside, two remained outside to guard the shop door. Eric sent one man to guard the back door then turned to Elsa and asked, "Your Majesty, are you and Princess Anna okay?"

"Yes," she gasped as she helped Anna sit. He accepted that for the moment. He needed to send for reinforcements.

"You! Run back to the castle and get another squad and Her Majesty's carriage. Have Kai send a messenger to the Marine Barracks and report what happened. And another messenger to the Admiral," Eric barked orders to his man, then turned to check on the Queen and the Princess again. "Your Majesty?"

After Elsa had helped Anna sit she slumped into a chair herself, trying to slow her pounding heartbeat. "I'm … I'm fine, Captain, Anna, are you … Anna!" she cried as she noticed the blood stain on Anna's skirt.

Anna was wincing as she reached down to raise her skirt and look at the cuts on her legs. "Ow. That stings, what happened?"

"Someone tried to kill you, Your Majesty," Eric ground out between clenched teeth. "Your Highness, we need to get those wounds looked at." He looked around and saw the shopkeeper and an assistant cowering against a wall, wondering what the Queen and her sister and her very angry looking guard were doing in their shop.

"You, there," Eric commanded. "Is there an apothecary nearby?"

"Y … yes, sir," stammered the shopkeeper. "Three doors down."

"Could you send your assistant there to bring the physician?" Eric tried to moderate his voice into something less harsh. He could tell these people were frightened. Well, so was he.

"I'll go right quick, sir," the assistant said, and ran out the door.

"And bring a Gendarme, too, we'll need to search for signs of this vile coward!" Eric shouted as the man left the shop. He turned his attention to the Queen again.

Elsa had knelt to check on Anna's injuries. They didn't seem to be serious, there was blood oozing slowly from several small cuts, just scratches, nothing more. She looked at the shopkeeper and asked, "Could you bring me a basin of water and some cloths so I can take care of my sister?"

He gulped and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Right away." He ran into the back of the shop, returning almost at once with a basin, a pitcher, and some towels draped over his arm. He placed the items on the floor next to Anna.

Captain Gunnarsson said, "You should wait for the physician, Your Majesty. He'll be here in a minute or two."

She glared up at him, "I'll tend to my sister, Captain." She looked around, "I suspect the physician will be busy with your men. Look to them." She dipped one of the towels in the basin and began to gently clean the cuts on Anna's leg.

Elsa was right. One of the guards was bleeding enough that the stain on his trouser leg was dripping into a small puddle at his feet. He was ignoring it, keeping a watchful eye on the door.

There was a commotion at the door, then a Gendarme officer came in, followed by the shopkeeper's assistant and a bespectacled man carrying a leather satchel. Eric presumed he was the physician.

The physician spoke first, asking, "Who is it that needs my care?"

Elsa pointed to the injured guardsman, "That man is bleeding badly. I can handle my sister." Anna nodded to confirm what the Queen was saying, although she let out a small yelp as Elsa wiped at one of the cuts.

The physician was torn. His inclination was to take care of the Princess first, but his Queen had instructed him otherwise. He looked at Eric for guidance.

Gunnarsson waved at the guardsman and said, "Sit, man, and let the doctor look at that leg."

"_What a mess,"_ Eric thought. Watching as the doctor began to work on the wounded guard, he noticed that the Gendarme officer was still waiting for orders.

"What can I do, Captain?" asked the Gendarme as Eric walked over to him.

"There was a gunman on one of the rooftops across the harbor. Come with me," and he gestured for the man to follow him outside.

"See that house?" Eric pointed to a particular building. "I thought I saw a plume of gun smoke when we were shot at. I could be wrong, but turn out your entire guard to search this town for anything or anyone suspicious. It's unusual for anyone to be carrying a gun in town; maybe someone noticed, or heard the gunshot. Send your men to search the roof-tops there in particular. I'll be returning Her Majesty to the castle as quickly as we can arrange it safely. Bring your report to me there."

The Gendarme officer nodded and moved off to join a group of his men that were waiting for him a few yards away. He gave them their orders, then watched them scatter to begin the search. Several ran down to the docks for a boat; it would be quicker to row across the harbor than to walk or ride around the entire periphery.

Gunnarsson had returned to the shop. The physician was finishing up bandaging the wounded guard's leg, and Elsa had apparently completed her ministrations on Anna, as she was now sitting on a chair again and accepting a cup of tea from the shopkeeper. Anna was already sipping hers.

"Captain? Now what?" Elsa asked. Her hand shook enough that the tea sloshed and a bit spilled onto her lap.

"Now, Your Majesty, we wait for more men, and your carriage. I would prefer that you not walk back to the castle, exposed to another attempt," Eric responded.

Elsa nodded, then managed to drink some of her tea without spilling it.

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Anna had been examined by the Royal Physician when they returned to the castle. He had cleaned her cuts with alcohol to reduce the chance of infection, but they had been shallow enough that he hadn't bandaged them. She looked at Elsa with a worried frown. Her sister's face was a grim mask. Worse, she hadn't said anything on the trip back to the castle or while Anna was being taken care of. It was always a bad sign when Elsa withdrew like that.

Now they were all sitting around the conference table in the Royal Council Chamber: Elsa, Anna, Gunnarsson, the Admiral, Colonel Nordholm and the Gendarme Captain. Elsa rapped on the table to get everyone's attention.

"Captain? Admiral? Would you like to report the current status? I realize it had only been a few hours since the … attack, so you may not have much to tell."

Naismith nodded at the Gendarme Captain, who stood and began, "Your Majesty, when we closely examined the scar made by the bullet on the pavement and then found where the remnants embedded themselves in the house front, we were able to approximate where the assassin had fired from across the harbor. We searched – "

Anna interrupted him. "Isn't that a pretty long distance for someone to shoot at us?"

Nordholm answered her. "For a standard infantry musket, yes, Your Highness. For a specialty rifle, purpose-built for a murderous assassin, it is just feasible. Several rifles designed at the turn of the century could be used as the basis for such a weapon." Anna nodded grimly.

Naismith gestured at the Gendarme Captain to continue.

"As I was saying, we searched the entire town, particularly the rooftop pointed out by Captain Gunnarsson. The snow was disturbed and it was clear that someone had been on that roof. The footprints in the snow led to a drainpipe into a small courtyard that had a gate to an alley. No one we talked to in the area had seen or heard anything suspicious. Or any**one** suspicious. No ships have docked in the last several days, and the inns report that no one has taken any rooms more recently than two weeks ago. We will be checking the papers of their guests, but it will take at least until tomorrow before we can cover everyone. We set up checkpoints at the borders and so far no one has tried to leave town."

Anna said, "So, you have no leads, nothing to tell us who tried to kill Elsa?" She glanced down to where Elsa had her hands clenched in her lap; they were shaking, but that was invisible to anyone else at the table. Anna was the only one close enough to have those hands in sight.

"No, Your Highness. Not yet, although we have many more people to question," replied Naismith. "Assuming that Her Majesty was in fact the target." He looked ill at ease when he spoke those words.

Elsa's head snapped up and she glared at him. "What do you mean?" she hissed. "Who else could be the target?"

Naismith hated, hated having to point out the obvious, but he knew she would never come to that conclusion herself. "They may have been targeting the Princess Anna, Your Majesty."

Anna gasped. That had never occurred to her, either. She glanced at her sister, whose body was so tense it was quivering. Anna felt a chill in the air, but didn't notice any icy frost on the table or the chair Elsa was sitting in. She couldn't see the floor, however, and there might be ice there. Elsa's jaw was clenched so tightly Anna could swear she could hear her teeth grinding. She reached out and took Elsa's hand. It was only then she felt her tension ease slightly.

"What makes you think that, Admiral?" Elsa managed to force out the words.

"I have nothing conclusive that indicates who that bullet was meant for, Your Majesty," he replied. "Unfortunately, because of your proximity to each other, either or both of you could have been the target. I am trying to keep an open mind, so as not to focus on avenues of inquiry that could be a dead-end. We have many more leads to follow, however slender a thread they may be."

"Who would want to kill me? To kill either of us?" Anna demanded.

Elsa's shoulders slumped, and she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose with the hand Anna wasn't holding. "It's actually a long list, Anna. It could be the Duke, trying for subtlety this time. Disgruntled citizens of Arendelle who were harmed by the Winter and haven't forgiven me. Some kingdom who thinks I'm an abomination. Or a threat. If I'm dead, no more threat." She dropped her hand back into her lap and looked at the Admiral. "Did I miss anyone?"

His face was set in grim lines. "You didn't mention the Southern Isles."

"The Southern Isles?" Anna blurted. "Why THEM? That … that PRINCE tried to kill us! And we sent him back there for them to punish, and the last diplomatic dispatch we got from them said he had died in prison!"

"All true, Your Highness. But it is because of that death that perhaps some one of his friends, or even his family, decided to take revenge. On you. I doubt that it would be sanctioned by the King or the government, they seemed genuinely horrified and contrite about Ha … his crimes. But that does not rule out a private action."

Elsa was exhausted. She needed sleep, if sleep would come. She hadn't slept well since Christmas. She needed to end this meeting and go to her room and pull the blankets over her head and just pretend that … that … she wasn't sure what she wanted to pretend. That she wasn't the Queen, perhaps, that this whole mess was someone else's problem, someone else's fault.

"Admiral, is there anything else? It seems we have exhausted the list of things we know and are well into the list of things we don't know, which is infinite," Elsa said.

"I agree, Your Majesty. I suggest we revisit this in one week at the regular meeting with Colonel Nordholm and his staff. In the meantime, perhaps it would be best if you and Princess Anna remained somewhat secluded, out of the public eye."

"We will see. I am reluctant to cower in this palace and hide from my people … again. Thank you all, you may go." Elsa dismissed them and sat serenely until the room had emptied except for Anna. Then she rubbed her temples and sighed as she slouched in her chair.

"Elsa? Are you okay?" Anna's concern was touching.

"I'm fine, I'm not the one with scrapes on her legs. Are YOU okay?" Elsa responded.

"Phft. Skinned knees are nothing," Anna brushed off her sister's question.

"And if you hadn't tripped, we might both be – " Elsa didn't finish the sentence as Anna put a finger to her lips to shush her.

"But we aren't. They missed, whoever 'they' are. Now, let's go get dinner, please? And forget this horrid day."

Elsa shook her head slowly. "You go. I have no appetite. I have a headache. I don't think I can sleep. I'd drink myself into oblivion if I thought that would help."

Anna looked at her quizzically. "Have you ever tried that?" She had never seen Elsa drink anything except a glass of wine with meals or perhaps a glass of champagne at formal celebrations.

Her sister gave her a crooked smile. "No. Before the coronation, the last thing I could afford was indulging in anything that would make me lose control of my powers. So I never got into strong drink. And **since** the coronation I haven't felt the need to acquire the habit. But I hear it comes up a lot nastier than it goes down, so I think I'll continue to abstain." She rose to leave the room and Anna followed her.

"Go, eat. I wish I had your resilience. I'm going to bed after asking Gerda to brew some willow bark tea. Can I ask a favor, though ?" Elsa looked at her sister shyly.

"Anything, you know that."

"Come to my room tonight. I can already tell it's going to be a bad one, and you being there will help."

Anna wrapped her in a quick hug. "I'll come right after dinner. We can do each other's hair and pretend this horrid day never happened. I'll even dip into my secret stash and share some of those chocolate cordials I found last week in town."

"Thank you. Between you and the chocolate, I may even be able to sleep for a change."

Later, after a few chocolates and some soothing tea, Elsa lay awake after Anna had fallen into sleep. They had talked about happier times to distract both of them from the horrible day. As she buried her face in Anna's shoulder, Elsa wished yet again that she had as much resilience as her sister. It wasn't that Anna felt things less intensely than Elsa. Quite the opposite, in fact. But for whatever reason, the younger sibling seemed to be able to bounce back from a bad experience more quickly than the elder.

Finally dropping off to sleep, Elsa began to dream. **_She was on a ship, she was using her magic. She was the Snow Queen in all her power and majesty, and she felt the exhilaration of using that power, just like she had the first time as she built her Ice Palace._**

The dream tableau shifted. ** _Elsa was standing in front of a cheering crowd, a mass of people chanting her name. Everyone idolized her, worshiped her fell beauty. She drank in the adoration like a fine wine and it intoxicated her. She let the euphoria wash over her._**

The setting changed again._**Now she was in her Throne Room, someone in chains kneeling before her in abject misery, their head bowed and their face hidden. "Take them away and execute them!" Elsa heard her own voice pass a sentence of death on the prisoner.** _

**_A guard pulled the victim to their feet and Elsa saw their face. It was Anna's face, looking at her with tears in her eyes. "Elsa, how can you condemn me like this?" dream-Anna sobbed._**

"NO!" Elsa gasped as she sat up, the dream wisping away as she became aware of the real world again. She was in bed, with Anna, not in her Throne Room.

"Elsa?" Anna mumbled sleepily, reaching behind her to touch Elsa's hand.

Shaking, Elsa lay back down and embraced her sister. "I'm here, Anna, I'm okay," she whispered.

But she was not okay. What was wrong with her?

Sleep didn't come again that night.


	11. The Plot Thickens

**Chapter 11 – The Plot Thickens**

"_Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."_  
><strong>― F. Scott Fitzgerald <strong>

"_The road to hell is paved with careful planning."_**  
>― Marty Rubin <strong>

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Jón Grár was idly sipping his coffee when five members of the Arendelle Gendarmerie strode into the cafe. Two of them blocked the door from the street and the one leading out the back, and the officer rapped on the countertop to get everyone's attention.

"I regret the need to interrupt your afternoon, good people. But we are searching for a murderer and need your help. My men will be interviewing each of you in hopes that you may have seen someone or something out of the ordinary that will aid us in tracking down this criminal. Please remain seated as we call you into the back room to consult with you."

Two of the Gendarmes remained watchful in the cafe as the officer waved at the cafe owner and the waiter to follow him into the back. It was a matter of a few moments before they returned and resumed taking orders and serving their customers while a steady stream of men and a few women were called by the Gendarme into the small office.

"_So, they are looking for a murderer, are they?" _mused Grár. _"I would think that is one term that could be used to describe the assassin who tried to kill their Queen. It seems they don't want to spread the news about that yet. Clever. Most of the good burghers of this rustic kingdom would be eager to help track down a murderer."_

When it was Grár's turn, he picked his portfolio up from the chair next to him and walked into the room where the officer was sitting at what was clearly the cafe owner's desk, littered with papers. The officer had cleared a small space for his notebook, where he had apparently been writing down the names of those he was interviewing, and their answers to his questions.

"Please, sit, my good man. May I ask your name and business?" The Gendarme's pencil was poised to write down the information.

"My name is Johannes Grau, sir, I am a solicitor who specializes in financing of new enterprises in this part of Northern Europe," replied Grár, with an easy smile. "If I may ask, are we in any danger from this fugitive you are seeking?"

"No, Herr Grau. We believe that he has left the city. That is why we are searching for any clues as to where he may have gone. Now, are you a citizen of Arendelle?"

"No, indeed. I spend most of my time traveling between various kingdoms seeking business opportunities, but I am a citizen of Hansestadt Lübeck_," _stated Grau/Grár.

"And how long have you been in Arendelle, Herr Grau? And may I see your papers?"

"I arrived two weeks ago. There are several new enterprises being set up to take advantage of the … disagreement between Arendelle and Weselton, and I have been working with Monsieur Robin Pierre to set up the business charters and partnerships that he is leading. Prior to this most recent business, he and I worked together to import marzipan from Lübeck."

'Grau' fumbled with his portfolio and pulled out several papers, which he laid in front of the Gendarme. "There are my bona fides and my letters of introduction to Monsieur Pierre. I believe he has been doing business in your fair kingdom for several years." He sat back comfortably as the Gendarme examined the documents closely.

"And where are you residing while you are here?" asked the Gendarme.

"I have taken a room in the most hospitable inn next door. It is convenient to those business offices of Monsieur Pierre and sets a very nice table. Not to mention its proximity to this cafe. Business meetings are often conducted over coffee or tea, are they not?"

"Where were you around one this afternoon and how long were you here in this cafe?"

"I arrived about half an hour ago. I had meetings with Monsieur Pierre all morning until about two, after which I returned to my room to freshen up and have a late lunch, then came here for coffee. You may verify that with Monsieur Pierre and the innkeeper if you care to."

The Gendarme wrote all this information down, copying names and addresses from the papers 'Grau' had shared with him. Pushing them back across the desk, he said, "I will, Herr Grau. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, but … duty." A shrug, then the Gendarme waved dismissal at Grau. "Thank you, you may go."

'Grau' nodded, picked up his portfolio and returned to the cafe. Ordering another coffee and a krumcake, he sipped and read through some papers for another half hour before he took his leave to return to his inn.

As he walked the short distance to the inn he noticed many Gendarmes patrolling the streets and going from door to door. He suppressed a smirk, maintaining the dull demeanor of the mid-level bureaucrat his cover made him out to be. Dull and bland and blending in was his salvation. He made an art out of being unremarkable.

Every word that he had spoken to the Gendarme was true. Except for where he had spent the morning and early afternoon. His alibi was solid; Pierre would swear on a stack of holy books that they had been engaged in business negotiations behind closed doors as he had said. They had worked together before.

In reality, Jón Grár had spent hours lying concealed in the snow on a rooftop across the harbor from the castle with a clear view of the castle gates and the marketplace. Dressed in a thick suit of white wool that covered him from head to toe, he was almost invisible as long as he did not move very much. He was practiced in lying in ambush. His rifle was painted white as well. It was a specialty item, custom build for him by a gunsmith he could trust. A gunsmith hundreds of miles away from Arendelle. It was designed for extreme accuracy up to three hundred yards, fitted with a telescope to aid in zeroing in on his target. The barrel could be quickly detached from the stock so that it could be carried under a coat inconspicuously.

He had read the Queen's schedule in the local paper; it was the day of her monthly visit to the people of Arendelle. He had positioned himself several hours in advance, as it took careful planning to get to the roof without being seen. His escape route had been planned so that he could slide down the drainpipe to the courtyard.

There he removed the white woolen overalls to reveal rough work clothes like any common laborer might wear. Stuffing the rolled up overalls and the disassembled rifle into a small wheeled cart such as used by peddlers, he casually left the courtyard to stroll nonchalantly to a street that would take him past the back of the inn where he was staying.

This all took less time than it took Captain Gunnarsson to get Elsa and Anna into the shop out of sight, then send for the Gendarmerie to start a search. By the time the Gendarme captain had gathered his men, given them their orders and sent them out looking, Grár had pulled his wheeled cart into one of Pierre's warehouses, the one where his office was. Once there, he quickly changed out of the peddler's clothing and into his normal business suit, including a long cashmere overcoat with special pockets designed to hold his disassembled rifle.

He pushed the cart with the discarded clothes into a storeroom where Pierre would see to their disposal, then left the warehouse for the short stroll to the inn where he had rented a room. He greeted the innkeeper and asked if there had been any messages for him. The Gendarmes had not yet begun their search. This inn faced another street, not the city square and marketplace across the harbor, so there had been no indication of the drama playing out there. It would take some time for them to get to this part of the town thanks to the hilly terrain.

"No messages, Herr Grau. Would you like lunch sent to your room?" 'Johannes Grau' was known as a generous tipper, and the innkeeper liked to keep such customers happy.

"Yes, please. It was a long meeting and we skipped eating. A quick lunch, then maybe I'll take some coffee later next door. Thank you." Grár nodded genially at the innkeeper as he walked to the stairs leading to his room.

Once in the room, he hid the rifle in the false bottom of one of his suitcases, then washed up for lunch.

When the waiter brought his lunch to the room, he thanked him effusively and gave him a good sized tip, then tucked into his meal.

_"Damn the luck of that woman. It will be harder to take a second shot at her now. They probably won't let her out of the castle for weeks."_ He scowled as he finally let down his mask of banality. He would have to think about what to do next. He had no intentions of returning the Duke's money. Not out of greed – out of pride. He had never failed in a commission, and he was determined that this would not be the first.

He just wasn't sure if he could accomplish it before the Snow Queen sailed off to Weselton and made his deal with the Duke moot. An icy statue would have no interest in a bank account, after all.

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The next morning dawned cold and clear again. It was unusual to have two sunny days in a row in January. Grár's breath made a white plume as he hurried to walk from his inn to the business office of Monsieur Rob S. Pierre. They had more 'business' to conduct today.

He noticed that there still seemed to be more Gendarmes on the streets of Arendelle than usual. The Gendarmes spent most of their time breaking up bar fights in the taverns near the docks. Real crime was rare. The kingdom was practically a dictionary entry for the words 'dull', 'peaceful', and 'boring'. That is, it had been until the past July. Now it seemed like the term 'dull' would never be applied to Arendelle again.

Grár entered the building that housed Pierre's business headquarters. He passed his hat and coat to a servant, and was ushered into Pierre's office.

"Good morning, Rob. How are you this fine day?" Grár would stick to trivial small talk until the servant had finished bringing them coffee.

"Quite well, my friend. And you?" Pierre could out-bland him it seemed.

They accepted their beverages and thanked the servant, who left a carafe on the sideboard and closed the door behind him. The change in atmosphere was palpable.

"So," Pierre began, "It seems that you are losing your touch, mon ami." Pierre sipped at his coffee with a sour look on his face. He hated Elsa of Arendelle, although **his** hatred was rather more impersonal than that of the Duke. He hated all royalty and the noble classes of any sort, a hatred that was born in the Reign of Terror when the uprising against the monarchy of France was betrayed and the common people were put back under the yoke. Pierre had lost his father during that uprising, and had sworn that he would bring death to all royalty until he drew his last breath.

"Luck, my friend, pure luck. Just as I pulled the trigger for a perfect shot that would have taken down both of them, the Princess tripped and pulled the Queen down with her," Grár waved his hand in dismissal.

Pierre frowned. "The Gendarmes were here asking about our meeting yesterday. Of course, I assured them that we were busy until well after the time the Queen was attacked. And that we have done business before, so that you are not a newcomer to Arendelle."

"Thank you. Our partnership has been productive for both of us over the years."

"Bah. Now what? Will you try again?"

"I certainly have no intentions of returning the Duke's money, but another opportunity before they sail to Weselton is unlikely. I doubt she will be making any public appearances for a few weeks, at least. Certainly none that will be announced beforehand."

"And after she returns, it is unlikely that the Duke will care much about anything at all, much less money."

"Do you really think she'll kill him?" Grár asked.

"She has no reason to leave him alive. He deserves whatever she chooses to do in revenge for that attack," shrugged Pierre. To him, the Duke was just another member of the nobility that preyed upon the common people. Whether he lived or died meant nothing, although dying was preferred.

"That would raise three kinds of hell with other kingdoms. Reigning monarchs don't usually get their hands dirty with the blood of their peers," pointed out Grár.

Another shrug was Pierre's only response. Elsa's diplomatic problems were less than nothing to him.

"Let us continue with our business, then, Grau. The best cover for funny business is real business, is it not?" Pierre pulled out some papers from his desk and they continued to plan the new manufacturing enterprise.

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The servant returned at noon to announce that Baron Bjorn Thorstad had arrived for his luncheon appointment, and would it please Monsieur Pierre to receive him?

"By all means, please escort him in," replied Pierre. He began to tidy up the papers he and Grau had been reviewing.

Baron Thorstad entered, still in his woolen coat, his hat and gloves tucked under his arm. "Good day, Rob, Johan. Are we ready for lunch?"

"Indeed, Bjorn, and it is good to see you again." Grau rose and extended a hand to Thorstad in greeting. "We have been hard at work since the early morning, and a good meal is just the thing. Where shall we dine? Next door, or do you have something else in mind?"

"Next door is fine. The next best dining room is across the harbor, and it is too cold to hire a boat and too far to walk."

Grau and Pierre accepted their wraps from the servant and the three men walked next door to the small cafe for lunch.

Once they had hung up their coats and settled into seats around a table, the waiter was quick to appear. Their clothing marked them as prosperous men of means, and the waiter would work eagerly to earn a good tip. They ordered beverages and the meal, then Pierre spoke to Thorstad.

"Well, mon ami, I understand there was quite the excitement yesterday, non? How is the Queen?" Pierre inquired of the Baron. As a member of Elsa's Royal Council of Advisers, Thorstad would often hear of things that were not common gossip or items for the Arendelle newspaper.

Thorstad looked grim. "We almost lost both of them. By some miracle, the Princess had tripped and pulled the Queen down with her just as the bullet passed through the space that they had occupied. Naismith's analysts are sure it would have killed them both."

Grau reacted to this as any concerned citizen would, even though he was not of Arendelle descent. "That is indeed fortunate, my friend. Let us offer thanks that your Queen is apparently blessed with excellent luck." Inside, he seethed, _"And my luck couldn't be worse."_

Sipping his coffee, Pierre nodded in agreement. "Indeed good luck. And what vile coward is behind this attack, do you think, Bjorn? Does your Admiral have any leads?"

Shaking his head ruefully, Thorstad admitted, "No, not yet. Whoever this assassin is, they are subtle and skilled. There is no hint of anyone trying to flee the kingdom. And no one from outside the kingdom has arrived in the last two weeks."

Pierre shrugged and suggested, "Does that not indicate that it most likely is some local disgruntled soul who carries some deep grudge against the Queen?"

"If nothing else turns up, that would be what must be assumed. However, if nothing else, the weapon used is not something that would be in the hands of any ordinary citizen; it clearly was a special design to be accurate at the distance used, according to Colonel Nordholm," Thorstad answered.

Their waiter arrived and placed their luncheon plates in front of them, inquired whether they needed refills on their drinks, and left them to enjoy the meal.

Pierre offered a toast. "Vive la reine, mes amis. Long may she reign in good health."

"Long live the Queen," responded his companions.

Of course, only one of the three men was sincere.

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Author's Note:

It so happens that Hansestadt Lübeck is a great place for 'Johannes Grau' to be a citizen. Lübeck's location makes it a trading port, and it was the capital of the Hanseatic League. One thing Lübeck is known for is marzipan, which is very popular in Arendelle. So he's been working with Pierre to import it, along with all those liquors and cordials and such like.

The **Hanseatic League** was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. I've actually been to Lübeck, it's a beautiful city.


	12. Sailing to Weselton

**Chapter 12 – Sailing to Weselton**

**Late January 1841 – Aboard the Royal Arendelle Navy flagship _King Agdar_**

"_At this hour  
>Lie at my mercy all mine enemies." <em>  
>― William Shakespeare, <em>The Tempest <em>

"_Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver."_  
>― Barbara De Angelis<p>

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There was no crowd to see them off as the fleet set sail to Weselton. There had been no announcements, the Admiral intended to keep it secret as long as possible. Only one ship was left at the dock. Others had sailed over the last few days as though on normal patrol. They would rendezvous at sea, then proceed as a fleet to visit the Duke.

It was still dark, the early morning tide an hour before dawn. The sky was overcast, a blustery wind was blowing, and there was a sharp, stinging sleet falling. Whitecaps dotted the fjord, and even in the sheltered harbor the water was choppy. This ship, the flagship _King Agdar_, would carry Admiral Naismith, his staff and the Queen.

Kristoff stood by in silence as Anna said goodbye to her sister. Anna was not a morning person, but Kristoff didn't think she had slept at all last night, so it didn't really count as morning, did it?

"Elsa, be careful, come back to me, I don't know what I'd do if something happened … " Anna was trying very hard not to cry, she didn't want to add to her sister's stress. She could tell from Elsa's rigid carriage that she was far into her 'conceal, don't feel' mode.

Elsa hugged Anna and murmured, "You'll be fi … " She didn't finish the sentence. "I'll be careful, Anna, please don't worry. I mean, I know you'll worry, but just don't do too much of it ..."

Anna smiled as her older sister rambled in a very Anna-like way. She reached up and put a gentle finger on Elsa's lips. "Shh. I get it. Just be sure to send us updates. You know me and the Council will be counting the minutes until you get back."

This brought a wry chuckle from Elsa. Anna would be acting as Regent again for the time Elsa would be gone. The Royal Council had already experienced the younger sister's style and fervently wished for Elsa to live a long and healthy life. Anna's only real ally on the Council would be Bishop Nordgaard, since the Admiral was sailing with Elsa. The other five members were indifferent at best and skeptical of Anna's skills at worst. None of them were stupid enough to show their feelings, but Anna's intuition gave her some hints, and Elsa could read them like open books.

"We will." Elsa looked over to Kristoff, "You two behave yourselves, understand? No scandals!" She was teasing. They had demonstrated all the restraint and discretion Elsa could ask from them.

"I will, Your Majesty," the Ice Harvester said. Elsa smiled; although Kristoff had her permission to use her name, he was careful to maintain a more formal demeanor when they were in public.

The two sisters exchanged one last hug, then Elsa boarded the ship. Anna stood at Kristoff's side and reached for his hand. They watched as the ship cast off, set sail, and left the harbor.

"Let's head back to the castle, Feisty Pants. It's cold and damp out here, and I don't want you catching a cold or worse," Kristoff cajoled Anna once the little fleet was out of sight. "Time for some hot breakfast, then maybe you can take a nap or something; I can tell you didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"I won't be getting much sleep until she gets back, Kristoff. I'll be worrying every second, visualizing the worst; it's winter, there's storms, there's the Weasel navy, a stray cannon ball, the Duke could have some nasty surprise waiting even if he's a pusillanimous bastard … " Anna was rambling now.

"Hey, don't worry about her. She's surrounded by the entire Arendelle Royal Navy, she has her magic, and it will be less than three weeks until she gets back."

"Yeah, and they said my parents would be back in two weeks. And the weather is much worse this time of year. And ..."

Kristoff turned her to face him and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Hey, all of that is true, and worrying yourself sick isn't going to change any of it. Please, Anna. Don't borrow trouble. She's counting on you to take care of this place while she's gone, and that's enough worry for anyone. Okay?"

Anna could never resist him when he got **That Look** in his eyes. The one that said, _"I love you and I'm never letting you go, and I'll be there to catch you if you fall."_ The one that made her go weak-kneed and put that funny little twinge in her middle.

"Okay. But if you're going to do this whole Prince Kristoff thing, you're sitting through the damn trade review with me, you hear? Besides, as head of the Ice Guild you should know some of this stuff, and you can slip me notes under the table when I get confused."

"Deal. Now, let's go get breakfast. At least one of us is starving."

Her tummy chose that moment to let out a growl, identifying which one of them it was. Kristoff laughed, took her hand, and turned to walk back to the castle. Anna's guard detail surrounded them, eyes watchful, weapons ready to fend off anyone who might want to harm her.

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The first two days of the voyage to Weselton had been miserable for Elsa. She had known better than to eat anything before boarding ship and until this morning hadn't had anything except cold tea since.

It was dangerous to have a cooking fire on board a ship when the seas were so rough, but the sailors were used to hardtack and smoked meat and cheese. Fortunately, the sailing time to Weselton was short; there would be no need to aggressively conserve drinking water, and all the supplies had been fresh when loaded to provision the expedition.

The Admiral, Captain Andreas Halvorsen, Eric Gunnarsson and Colonel Nordholm were on the quarterdeck when Elsa came up from her cabin. She was paler than usual, it was actually possible to see her freckles, but she seemed to have found her sea legs at last. Captain Halvorsen's steward had provided her with some milk and bread to break her fast, and so far her stomach had not rebelled. The sky was overcast, with scudding dark clouds moving in front of a strong bitter wind. The ship rolled and heeled as it skipped over the white-capped waves.

The men came to attention and saluted and Elsa acknowledged them with a curt nod.

"Gentlemen, how is our progress?" she asked.

Halvorsen replied, "We are making excellent time, Your Majesty. The winds are favorable and we should arrive in the late afternoon of the day after tomorrow. However, it would probably be better for us to delay our actual entrance into the Weselton harbor until the following morning for full effect. The tides would be favorable for our arrival around ten in the morning."

She considered this, then nodded once again. "I will certainly defer to your judgement, Captain. Arriving during daylight would have the greatest impact on the populace."

"How are you feeling, Your Majesty?" inquired Nordholm.

"Much better, Colonel. I believe I may actually be able to join you for dinner tonight." She had remained miserable in her tiny cabin the first two evenings at sea.

As the flagship, the _Agdar_ was larger than average, primarily to allow extra room for the Admiral's cabin and one for his chief of staff. Protocol would call for Elsa to be given the most luxurious quarters, if anything could be called 'luxurious' aboard a wooden ship bobbing around on the northern seas, but she had refused. The Admiral's cabin also served as a conference room, and she felt the necessity of their planning sessions overrode protocol. She took the cabin that would normally be occupied by Colonel Nordholm, who then doubled up with Captain Halvorsen.

None of the cabins could be called large, but Elsa was content with a room that wasn't much larger than the bunk, with just enough room for a washstand, side table and chair. She had also refused to bring along any maidservants, as she had more than enough experience taking care of herself growing up in isolation. It wasn't a very long voyage in any case.

"Let us take dinner now, then, Your Majesty. The seas have moderated enough that the cook promises us something hot tonight, if not as elaborate as may be found in your castle," Captain Halvorsen said. "I believe he has something special for dessert as well. Your sister provided a sealed tin just before we sailed."

"Really? Anna didn't tell me anything about that," replied Elsa.

"She said something about a surprise and threatened bodily harm if we let you know," Halvorsen explained. "I felt it prudent to follow her instructions. It is too cold to find myself knocked over the side into the fjord."

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Three days later the Arendelle fleet sailed into the Weselton Harbor on the morning tide. Several of her ships remained on patrol outside the protective seawall.

Elsa stood in the bow of the _Agdar_, dressed as the imposing Snow Queen. This version of her dress had a high collar and long sleeves and was a much darker blue than the dress she had created at the Ice Palace. A white cape billowed in the wind, her golden crown glinted in the weak winter sunlight.

The flagship reefed most of her sails and glided in to dock. The other three ships positioned themselves close to shore, spread out to cover all approaches should the Weselton forces choose to fight.

Elsa raised her hands and swept them in an expansive gesture. The entire harbor froze over, locking every ship in it into immobility, including her own fleet. But they didn't need mobility for their plan.

Elsa made another gesture at two Weselton navy ships docked at the quay. They became encased in ice up to and covering the gunports, the cannons that could be seen protruding from them weren't going to be useful any time soon, now being plugged with ice. Since the sailors manning those ships had run down their gangplanks and disappeared into town at the first sight of the Arendelle Navy, it hardly mattered. It seemed that the Duke's propaganda about the evil Ice Witch had indeed caused his own forces to lose courage and desert their posts. Not precisely what he had intended his stories of her evil power to accomplish, but the less resistance the better. Elsa wanted this invasion to be as bloodless as possible.

There were sailors with telescopes in the crows' nests of Elsa's ships, looking for any signs of resistance or an attacking force of Weselton troops. The Duke's miserly ways had left the port almost undefended. There were no aggressive enemy nations nearby to attack him and he relied on the navies of Arendelle, Corona, and his other neighbors to prevent piracy from eating into his profits too much. His land army consisted of his own household troops, a rather larger than average force due to the unrest within the population. There was a hypothetical militia that could be called up in defense of the duchy, but that would cost money. He had called them up briefly last fall, when he expected Elsa to come looking for revenge. When nothing happened after a month, he sent them back to their ordinary endeavors rather than pay them for doing nothing.

"Your Majesty, our lookouts don't see any troops gathering to oppose us. I suspect the Duke has called them to his defense at his Ducal Palace. I propose we take the next step in our plan, debark our Marines and march on the palace to confront the Duke."

"Very well, Admiral," agreed Elsa.

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As the Arendelle force marched through the streets of Weselton, Eric and the rest of the Queen's Own surrounding Elsa watched the few people on the street with stern attention. It was clear that the invasion had convinced most of the populace to hide away in their homes, or to leave town entirely. When armies marched, the common people knew that it was smart to be elsewhere.

Elsa focused on the street leading to the Ducal Palace. She marched with fierce intent, looking ahead to confronting the Duke in his own lair. Her stride was confident, her fists clenched with anger, her face a mask of determined resolve.

There was a sudden movement between two houses and a small figure darted into the street, ducking between two guardsmen and running in front of Elsa, forcing her to stop suddenly or run the tiny body over. She put her hands out in a defensive gesture against the threat … of a small child staring up at her wide-eyed with awe.

Elsa clenched her fists and reined in her magic. She was horrified that she had almost struck the child down!

"Snow Queen!" the child reached up with two grubby hands. "Do the magic!" she giggled.

A flashback to another child saying those same words almost caused Elsa to faint. She shook her head to clear it and stared at the child bouncing in front of her. The little girl couldn't be more than three, clad in a rather shabby dress, coat and scuffed shoes. She danced from one foot to the other, continuing to chant, "Magic, Snow Queen, magic!"

There was a scuffle going on at the periphery of Elsa's vision. She turned to look. One of her guards was struggling with a woman who was screaming, "Don't hurt my child, you monster!"

"_It must be the little girl's mother,"_ Elsa thought. "Captain, let her go," she ordered.

"Your Majesty, she could be dangerous to you!" protested Eric. The woman continued to try to free herself from the arms of the guard holding her back, kicking and scratching.

"I don't think so." Elsa stooped to kneel so that she was at the same eye level as the child, then reached out a hand, palm up, and created a small fountain of snowflakes for the little girl.

She was rewarded with a wide-eyed "Oooooh! Magic, Snow Queen, magic!" Elsa couldn't help but smile in return.

The little girl's mother stopped struggling, stunned by this display of … gentleness on Elsa's part. Where was the monster the Duke had warned them about? Eric nodded at the guard holding the woman and he let her go, but stayed close to her, keeping a wary eye on her as she slowly approached Elsa and knelt behind her daughter.

Elsa continued to create little snowflakes for the girl, then cupped her other hand over the one extended, then opened them to show a small figurine of a snowman. She held it out for the little girl, who immediately took it and showed it to her mother. "Look, mama, Snow Queen made me a snowman!"

The mother wrapped her arms protectively around the child while looking at Elsa with an odd expression on her face. Elsa could imagine the thoughts whirling through the woman's mind, the conflict between the image of an evil witch painted by the Duke contrasting with the reality in front of her.

"Is this your daughter?" Elsa asked softly, rising from her kneeling position. The woman rose also, still holding her child close to her skirts.

"Y … yes," was the shaky reply. She clutched her child a little tighter, her hands visibly shaking.

"I do not hurt children. Your daughter was in no danger from me," Elsa said, her voice still soft.

"That's not what the Duke told us!" the woman was a little defiant, her fear showing as anger.

"Did he tell you what he had done to me? To my sister? To my kingdom?" Elsa kept her voice level and unthreatening so as not to frighten the child. She continued to make small flurries to the delight of the little girl, who squirmed out of her mother's arms to reach out and dance in merriment at the swirling flakes, trying to catch them on her tongue.

"No. No, he didn't, he just told us how you froze your own kingdom, and how you would come looking for revenge because of some slight he offered you," was the slow reply. The mother was still wary of Elsa, but couldn't help but begin to share the awe of the little girl, so innocent of anything except the joy of seeing Elsa make snowflakes and snowmen.

"Apparently your daughter misunderstood the message," Elsa said, as snowflakes flurried down to the continued laughter of the child.

"She's too young to understand anything more than 'magic snow'. We don't get much snow here, and she loves it when it comes. And to a child, 'magic' is the tricks peddlers do in the marketplace, not evil curses." The woman's expression softened as she watched her baby dance and giggle at Elsa's snowflakes.

As they stood there taking each others measure, Elsa noticed the shabbiness of the mother's clothing and shoes. Looking around, she could tell that the houses lining the street were rundown and dilapidated. Elsa knew that every town had poorer sections, but they were almost to the Duke's palace. There should be more prosperity showing, shouldn't there?

Elsa was now worried about their plan to crush the Duke's business interests. If these people were on the ragged edge of surviving, destroying the economy of Weselton would hurt them far worse than it would hurt the Duke. It was a thought that dismayed Elsa. There were more ways to kill people than with bullets and cannonballs. Starvation was just as effective, albeit slower. So much for limiting collateral damage; she could kill thousands without firing a shot or creating an icicle.

Shaking her head, she looked down at the little girl, holding on to the snowman and still giggling at the snow flurry. With a gesture, Elsa swept the snow into the ether, which caused the child to pout and go, "Awww. Want more snow!"

"Little one, I can't do more right now. I hope you like the little snowman. But I must go. Your mother wants to take you home, go with her and be safe."

The woman nodded at Elsa with grudging respect, then took her daughter's hand and walked away without a backward glance. The little girl did look back, waving the hand still clutching the little snowman and calling out, "Bye, bye, Snow Queen!"

Throughout all of this, Elsa's guard had been watching their surroundings with diligence. The Marine column with them had remained in ranks at attention while the entire scene played out. Colonel Nordholm and Admiral Naismith had been on horseback leading the formation, while Elsa and her Queen's Own were on foot. The Admiral kneed his mount forward now and asked, "Your Majesty? Shall we continue on to see the Duke?"

"Yes, Admiral. I suspect he is wondering what's keeping us." With that, Elsa resumed the march to the Ducal Palace, followed by her guard and the rest of the troops.

As they marched down the street and the sound of their boots faded, a stealthy figure drew back from where it had observed the entire scene with the Snow Queen and the child. Slipping into the shadows of an alley between the houses, he ran quickly to parallel the line of march of the Arendelle troops heading for their confrontation with the Duke.

As he ran he reflected on what he had just seen …_ "So the actuality of the Snow Queen of Arendelle is quite different from the fairy tales the Duke has been telling us, hmm? This has the makings of a very interesting meeting."_

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End file.
